Flying on a dragon’s back was exhilarating—and terrifying. Sardelle did not feel the wind like she expected, not the way she did when she cruised in Ridge’s flier. A comforting cloak of magic wrapped around her, keeping her astride Bhrava Saruth, not dissimilarly to the harness in Ridge’s back seat. Except that the “harness” was made of strands of invisible power. She was glad Bhrava Saruth cared enough to put out the effort, because they were zipping along more quickly than a flier, the land below passing by in a blur. The jagged peaks of the Ice Blades grew larger with each passing moment, the dawn sky lightening from pink to blue behind them.
We will arrive soon, high priestess.
Excellent. Thank you. You can call me Sardelle, if you wish. She certainly wished he would, but she didn’t want to complain when he was doing this favor for her. She wondered what she could do to pay him back.
Perhaps you can find him a worshipful ingénue or two in the villages down there, Jaxi suggested.
Maybe I can get him some of that cheese that Phelistoth likes.
They passed a flock of ducks, startling the poor creatures into diving for the nearest lake. Despite the magical harness, Sardelle held on tightly as Bhrava Saruth’s back tilted and they climbed toward the tops of the mountains. She closed her eyes and rested her face against his cool scales. Tylie had taken to this right away, but Sardelle found it more alarming than riding in Ridge’s flier, perhaps because she didn’t know if Bhrava Saruth was exactly what he appeared or if he had hidden—and possibly dangerous—depths.
Speaking of dangerous depths, you better make sure the king’s orders don’t fly out of your pack, Jaxi said. Therrik may greet you with Kasandral in hand, especially if you come in on dragonback.
They’re securely fastened. She did intend to have the king’s orders in hand as soon as they landed. Just because Therrik had called her an asset in that report did not mean he would be eager to help her.
As they passed the first peaks and headed closer to the spine of the Blades, Sardelle opened her eyes and leaned her head to the side of Bhrava Saruth’s neck so she could watch the glaciers and valleys passing below. They weren’t to the crash site yet, but if Ridge had walked away and hadn’t been able to climb back up to the outpost, he might be searching for a route that would take him out of the mountains. Flying made the peaks seem less daunting, but she remembered from her childhood just how long it took to traverse the Ice Blades and that climbing gear was required in many places.
There are people here and there, Bhrava Saruth informed her, but I do not believe they are the one you seek.
She did not know if he could recognize Ridge’s aura through her thoughts, but she said, Thank you for looking. She would keep searching herself.
I’m looking too, Jaxi said. I hope I’ll be wrong and that he’s alive.
Thank you.
Bhrava Saruth took them over the crash site, the rocky slope still in shadow as the sun rose behind Goat Mountain. She spotted the remains of the flier once again. Nothing had changed, not that she had expected it to. Ridge wouldn’t have been able to climb back up to it if he had fallen out and into the river below. That river was even farther below than she remembered, and the pit of her stomach grew heavy. Maybe she was being delusional about all this. Maybe there was no way he could have survived.
Do you wish to search further now, high priestess? Or collect your servant in the human fort first?
My, ah, servant? Sardelle was quite positive she hadn’t explained Therrik that way.
He will serve you in this matter, yes? My priestess should have as many servants as she needs.
Just don’t call him that. Sardelle pointed to the slope. Do you think it’s possible to find a spot to land down there? By the wreckage?
They had not been able to do that in the fliers. Even the two-seat models with the thrusters required a flat surface for landing.
Yes, of course. Bhrava Saruth tilted his wings and they swooped low.
Even though he had talons and could grasp onto a perch like a bird, she wondered at finding a landing spot down there. It was so steep. If the body of the flier hadn’t come to a stop behind a boulder embedded in the earth, it would have fallen all the way down into the canyon below.
Bhrava Saruth slowed himself as he neared the ground by tilting his body upward. His talons came out, and he alighted on the boulder right next to what remained of the battered flier. The big rock shifted, and pebbles bounced down the slope, skipped over the edge, and disappeared into the canyon. Sardelle tightened her grip on Bhrava Saruth’s smooth scales as the boulder shifted more, a soft scraping sound coming from below. He adjusted his weight, and it grew still. She told herself that he would simply leap up and flap his wings if it gave away, but she couldn’t help but feel as if her life teetered on the edge. From above, she hadn’t realized just how steep this slope was. She couldn’t imagine that Ridge could have walked away without falling.
Regardless, she looked to either side of the crumpled flier, seeking footprints or skid marks that might indicate someone had disturbed the rocks. From her position near Bhrava Saruth’s shoulders, it was hard to read signs on the ground.
Bhrava Saruth bent his head, his long neck allowing him to lower his snout to the earth. He sniffed at the cockpit of the flier, then sniffed at the ground all around it.
Did he say he was a god or a dog? Jaxi asked.
Hush. Sardelle did not want to insult him, especially not when he was helping her.
I just thought he might be confused. If it helps, I don’t sense Ridge nearby. But as before, my senses are muddled by his divine presence.
Sardelle did not sense much, either, beyond marmots hiding in the rocks.
I detect a faint scent from the cockpit, Bhrava Saruth announced, but rain has come and washed away most of the signs.
Sardelle eyed the lifeless power crystal and wondered if that had been the reason Ridge crashed. Had the dragon destroyed it while he was in the air? She looked to the side, spotting the tip of the ammo belt that fed bullets into the machine gun. She thought some of Tolemek’s special ammunition might remain, the bullets with his acid in the tips, acid capable of doing damage to dragon scales.
She couldn’t get down and fiddle around in the cockpit by hand, but she unfastened the belt with her mind and floated the remaining ammo up to her hand. There weren’t more than thirty or forty bullets left, but maybe they would make a difference in the future, or maybe Tolemek could use them as a model to craft more. She carefully tucked them into her pack.
Can you take me over to the edge of the rockslide area? Where it levels out a bit? Sardelle doubted anyone could have walked across the slope and reached the less treacherous ground, but Bhrava Saruth flew her to the area. She slid off and walked around, studying the stark ground as if she knew what she was doing or might find a clue so obvious that even a tracking neophyte might recognize it.
Perhaps this would be the time to get Therrik, Jaxi said.
Sardelle sighed and looked toward the canyon, where she could hear the river flowing past far below. You’re right. At the least, we’d have more eyes on the ground.
She would have preferred not to need him, but with the king’s orders, Therrik shouldn’t object too much. She directed Bhrava Saruth to take them back into the air, feeling quite presumptuous every time she made a request. She rarely asked people for favors. To ask a dragon to cart her around felt strange indeed.
How are we going to keep the miners from shooting at him—and us? Jaxi asked as they sailed around Goat Mountain and the outpost came into view.
A valid concern. Sardelle knew the cannons and rocket launchers poised on the walls wouldn’t get past Bhrava Saruth’s defenses, but he might not feel welcome if he was greeted with a barrage of weapons fire.
A distant wailing reached her ears, the alarm being sounded in the valley. She stretched out with her mind, searching for the one person down there who could stop the alarm and the attack that had to be imminent. So what if he happened to be the one person who would least appreciate a sorceress speaking telepathically to him?
Maybe it would be better to land shielded and use your lips with him, Jaxi suggested.
I’m not sure he wants anything to do with my lips either. Sardelle found Therrik’s aura among the soldiers on the wall just before he came into sight. Bhrava Saruth had slowed down and was coasting in.
She reached out to the man, sensing his grumpy disposition even before she fully touched his mind. He was so different from Ridge. She braced herself for the discomfort before she sent her words to him. Colonel Therrik? It’s Sardelle. I have orders for you from the king. This is the dragon that helped us defeat Morishtomaric. He and I would appreciate it if you commanded your men not to fire.
A long pause came, followed by a single word. Shit.
I don’t think he’s changed as much as the king thinks he has, Jaxi said.
Bhrava Saruth, not appearing concerned by the weapons on the towers or the soldiers on the wall banked and descended, heading for the rooftop in the courtyard that the fliers used for landing. Out of habit, Sardelle prepared her own defenses, even though the dragon’s would likely protect her. Bellowing came from the parapet. Judging by the gruffness, it originated with Therrik.
She wasn’t sure whether he was yelling for his men to fire or not to fire. Bhrava Saruth flexed his wings and floated down to the rooftop. A lot of tense faces followed his flight, but nobody fired. Sardelle let out a slow breath.
Good morning, humans, Bhrava Saruth announced cheerfully. It took Sardelle a moment to realize he wasn’t just addressing her. Was he speaking to the entire outpost? If you are in need of healing or blessings, please come to me. There is no need to be alarmed by the god, Bhrava Saruth, but if you are uncomfortable speaking to me, you may address my high priestess, and she will direct you on my behalf.
Sardelle felt her mouth dangling open, but she couldn’t quite manage to close it. She wasn’t sure whether the humans to which he spoke would charge up to see him or would run for the tram cars in the hope of cowering down in the mines.
The first person to appear, climbing the stairs to the roof, was Therrik. Sardelle slid off the dragon’s back, her hand already dipping into her satchel so she could retrieve the envelope that held his orders.
“What in all the levels of hell is going on here?” he demanded.
She noted with great relief that he wasn’t striding around with Kasandral. “I need the help of a tracker, and King Angulus recommended you.” She pulled out the envelope and held it toward him.
He had come up the stairs to greet Sardelle—and the dragon—by himself, with nothing but a rifle in hand, but he seemed reluctant to approach. His jaw worked back and forth as he glanced toward the courtyard, then toward the envelope, and finally toward Bhrava Saruth, whose wings, when spread, extended farther than the sides of the building under them.
He is thinking unkind thoughts toward me, high priestess, Bhrava Saruth said. I do not believe he would make a good worshipper.
Perhaps some of the other people here could use your help and would be grateful for it.
Finally, Therrik squared his shoulders and strode toward them. He accepted the envelope, then stepped back, careful not to touch her. Sardelle suspected he was thinking unkind thoughts toward her too.
I get the sense that he thinks unkind thoughts toward everyone, Jaxi said.
“Tracking what?” he asked as he pulled out the page.
“I want to see if there’s any chance that Ridge is still alive. Also, the king thought you might like to get out Kasandral and help me find the sorceress.”
His gaze jerked up, fastening onto her face for the first time. His nostrils flared, and his eyes burned, alert and intent. Even with Jaxi at her hip and a dragon behind her, Sardelle shifted uneasily, not sure how to read that sudden intensity. Was he imagining that he might get his chance to use the blade to kill her?
Actually, he’s getting excited by the idea of killing Eversong and redeeming himself in the king’s eyes, Jaxi said.
Oh. He wouldn’t mind working with us if he got his chance to do that? One confrontation with the powerful sorceress had been enough for Sardelle. She would be happy to aim Therrik and the dragon-slaying blade in the right direction while standing back to assist.
I doubt you’d want to turn your back to him when he’s polishing Kasandral around the campfire at night, but he’s not fantasizing about killing you at the moment.
That’s an improvement.
I’ll say. The man does have a lot of violent urges. One wonders about his childhood.
“The king is tired of Eversong wandering around in his country and causing mischief,” Sardelle added, feeling the need to say something since several moments had passed since Therrik had spoken.
He stirred, looking down at the orders again. “I can understand that. All those damned witches ought to be killed.”
A deep rumble sounded from behind Sardelle. Was that a growl? Did dragons growl?
Bhrava Saruth’s neck stretched past Sardelle’s shoulder, his sleek golden head huge next to hers. He glared at Therrik with cold, green reptilian eyes as his tail twitched, then curled about to rest on the ground between Therrik and Sardelle. She blinked a few times in surprise, realizing he was protecting her. It was strange but a little exhilarating too. Was that what Tylie felt when Phelistoth protected her? She wondered why Bhrava Saruth would bother. She wasn’t a Receiver and hadn’t spent years sharing a mind link with him, the way Tylie had with Phelistoth.
You’re his only high priestess right now, Jaxi said dryly.
Therrik looked up, fear flashing in his dark eyes as he realized that growl had been for him. He quickly turned the emotion into a sneer of defiance, or perhaps contempt. “Oh, not her. She’s Angulus’s witch. I mean the ones that make trouble.”
Ah, he’s promoted you from Zirkander’s witch to the king’s witch, Jaxi said. Your career is advancing nicely.
Sardelle knew it was a joke, but it filled her with bleakness. She had no interest in being anyone’s “witch” except for Ridge’s.
“We have to track Zirkander first?” Therrik had taken a few more steps back from Bhrava Saruth to finish reading the note. “I thought they were positive he was dead.”
“We found his crashed flier, but we never found him.”
“Huh. You think the witch has him?”
Sardelle started to say no, but her lips froze before the word fully formed, the thought leaping into her mind again. Was it possible? If Jaxi had sensed Eversong nearby and she had been on the way to the outpost, might she have diverted when she saw the dragon battle? What if she had gotten to him first?
We discussed this, Jaxi said. Why would she bother? I assume it was the crystal or something else in the old Referatu stronghold that drew her here, the same as the dragons. Why divert to get a crashed pilot instead?
I’m not saying it’s likely, just that it’s possible. Ridge was the second-highest-ranking military man in the area then, and he knows all about the outpost. He probably knows a lot of military secrets too—how defenses are laid out here and back at home in the capital. She could have wanted him to... She trailed off, grimacing as her mind finished the sentence. Imagining Eversong dragging him off to torture him for information was almost as bad as imagining him dead.
Therrik was staring at her, waiting for an answer.
“I don’t know,” Sardelle said, “but I want to start with him. If he is out there, he may not have much time. Angulus said you were a good tracker.” She smiled, hoping he might be more amenable to working with her if she proved herself pleasant. She wouldn’t flatter him unduly, but Angulus had said Therrik had survival skills.
Instead of looking pleased, he scowled. “You’re on a first-name basis with him, are you?”
What? Everyone called him Angulus. Granted, they usually prefaced it with King, but even the newspapers referred to him by first name.
She shrugged and said, “He’s asked me to work in the castle as a healer.” Maybe that would explain the familiarity to Therrik’s satisfaction.
All he did was grumble and turn his back. “Twenty years I’ve served him, blood and soul, and who does he trust? Some strange witch woman who’s been here for three months and climbed into his bed.” He stalked away as he spoke, disappearing down the stairs.
“That’s hardly accurate,” Sardelle said.
No, we’ve been here six months now.
He is surly, Bhrava Saruth observed. I don’t believe he will be bringing me an offering.
He’s getting the sword, Jaxi said a few minutes later.
Not to use on us, I trust, Sardelle said.
Probably not. He’s stuffing underwear into a pack too. It appears he’s getting ready for a trip.
Good. Sardelle gazed toward Goat Mountain and the white-capped peaks looming behind it. We’re coming, Ridge.
• • • • •
After clunking his knee against three stumps and a rock, Tolemek found Cas standing guard beside a tree overlooking the river. If not for his growing ability to sense people the way Sardelle did, he might have stumbled into the water before finding her, assuming she hadn’t said anything. Between the layers of thick foliage and the clouds that had rolled in, blotting out the stars, the night was darker than the inside of a dragon’s stomach.
“Are you looking for me?” Cas murmured. “Or for a private place to relieve yourself?”
“I wouldn’t have come this far for that.”
“We’re only ten meters from camp.” Camp was an ambitious term for what they had, which was the camouflaged fliers parked in the mud and people hunkered on the lumpy mangrove roots, the only dry things around, aside from the patch of land they had turned into their prison.
“What’s your point?”
Tolemek couldn’t see Cas crinkle her nose, but when she said, “Men are gross,” he had no trouble imagining it.
“Does that mean you’re not interested in cuddling?”
“Probably not when I’m standing watch. You’re supposed to be sleeping so you can leave before dawn. Colonel Quataldo said you, he, and Kaika have to get an early start.”
“I heard. I suppose you, Blazer, Duck, and Pimples get to sleep in.”
Tolemek understood why the pilots would be staying behind, since they had to be able to swoop in and pick up the kidnappers once they had collected the emperor, but he wasn’t tickled at the idea of going in without Cas. He would have preferred to stay behind and let the two elite forces soldiers handle sneaking in on their own, but Colonel Quataldo wanted him—and his collection of grenades and salves—along. Tolemek did not know whether he should feel honored or not. He had a hunch the colonel also wanted to ensure Tylie—and Phelistoth—would stay nearby, something that might be more likely if he went.
An ominous growl, followed by a loud splash came from fifteen or twenty meters downstream, and Tolemek jumped.
“Oh, I don’t think we’ll be sleeping in,” Cas said. “Not with prisoners to guard and a swamp full of creatures that want to eat them. And us.”
Tolemek also did not like the idea of leaving Cas and the others to keep watch over twelve men who would spend the next three days trying to escape or otherwise make trouble. The pilots had to worry about the imperial airship patrolling the coast too.
“It would be better for you if there weren’t prisoners to guard,” Tolemek said.
“We can’t let them go, and I don’t think anyone is going to agree to a mass throat slitting.”
“I wasn’t suggesting that, but I have an idea. One that relies upon my dreadful reputation, assuming it’s made it to this continent.” He wouldn’t know if it had until he saw how the men reacted.
“What is it? Have you run it by the colonel?”
“Not yet. I need to see if Captain Kaika will help, since she can speak the language here. But first, I need you to know that I have something of yours.”
“Oh?”
“Actually, it’s from Duck’s flier.” Tolemek opened his hand where she would see it. A warm yellow glow escaped from his palm.
“You were able to get it out? I thought your fancy blood might be useful.”
“Yes, my fancy blood and a screwdriver.” Tolemek closed his fist on the communication crystal, cutting out the light. “It’s smaller than I realized. I’ll need to fasten it to something so I don’t lose it, but we’ll be able to keep in touch with your group and let you know when we need company.”
“Good. I don’t think smoke signals would be effective here.”
“Not across forty miles.” Tolemek grimaced at the march they had ahead of them. Even if they followed the beach, it would take all day and into the night, and he didn’t know if they would be able to stick to the beach, not if enemy airships cruised by regularly. They probably couldn’t risk flying closer, either, lest they be spotted. “Let me see if I can get anything to come of my idea.”
He started to move away, but Cas caught his arm.
“Be careful out there,” she urged. “I wish I was going with you.”
“I wish you were too.” He bent his head and found her cheek with his lips.
“Just so you know,” Cas said, her voice so soft he had to lean closer to hear her, “Wolf Squadron’s orders are to protect the flier that’s carrying the emperor at all costs. Right now, the plan is for Blazer to get him. The rest of us may have to stay behind, deal with pursuit so they can get away.”
“So the rest of us are expendable?” he asked dryly.
“It would seem so. I hope you left the recipe for your healing salve behind.”
He snorted. “It takes magic as well as ingredients. Nobody would be able to duplicate it.”
Cas brushed his hair away from his face. “Then we should try to make sure you return home too.”
“Let’s all return home.”
“I’m amenable to that.”
“Good.” The second time, he kissed her on the lips, not pulling away until she lowered her head and murmured something about being on watch.
Not liking the way that kiss had felt like a goodbye, Tolemek hugged her and returned to the camp. He washed his hands thoroughly, a challenge in the muddy environment, then dug a lantern out of his pack, along with a scalpel, a spool of suture, and a few chips of calcite that would be harmless under the skin. To be on the safe side, he doused the chips with his healing salve, which should keep an infection from taking root.
“Captain Kaika?” he murmured, picking his way through the mud to where she slept on a knot of roots.
“Yeah?”
“Can I borrow you for translation purposes?”
“That’s not the usual proposition men give me in the middle of the night.”
“It’s not the middle of the night,” Tolemek said. “Only a couple of hours past dusk.”
“I guess that changes things.” She pushed herself to her feet with a soft splash as her boots landed in the mud. “What do you need?”
“I want to perform surgery on our prisoners and for you to tell them what I’m doing. What I say I’m doing.”
Kaika paused a moment, either to rub sleep out of her eyes or to regard him like he was a crazy man. “Does Cas ever tell you that you’re odd?”
“No,” he said.
“Huh. You should keep her then.” Kaika grabbed her rifle, having no trouble finding it in the dark. “Lead on, surgeon.”
Tolemek turned his lantern up to full strength, swinging it at his side as he approached the prison. He whistled to himself to draw attention. A few open eyes watched him, the light glinting off them. Tylie had healed everybody to the best of her ability, with his salve helping, so the men were not in pain now. This ploy might have worked better if they hadn’t healed the men, but he hadn’t thought of it until he had lain down to rest.
“Which one first?” he asked Kaika.
She gave him a quick what-are-you-doing look, then nudged one with her boot. “This one tried to shoot me earlier. I think he was one of the ringleaders.”
“He should be punished then.”
“Of course.”
“Translate, please. Oh, and tell them my name, will you? My pirate name. In case they haven’t already guessed.”
Kaika nudged the closest man again and said a few words. He hoped one of them was Deathmaker.
A few of the men shifted on the ground and glanced toward the trees. One’s shoulders hunched as he tried to pull his tied wrists free. Tolemek found the reaction promising, at least for the purposes of this exercise.
“Will you assist me and hold the lantern, Captain?” Tolemek held up the vial of flakes and shook them. They tinked softly against the glass. “I plan to insert these devices under the skin of each prisoner before we free them. They will allow me to track them, and they will also allow me to kill them from a distance, should I deem it necessary. Such as if they attempt to inform anyone that they saw us.”
One of the prisoners cursed under his breath, leading Tolemek to assume at least a few of the people understood their language.
“Oh?” Kaika squinted at the vial. “For the rest of their lives or for a limited time?”
“For the rest of their lives. Translate, please.”
Kaika spoke in a casual tone to the men, as if she were discussing meal preferences. From the way some of the thieves’ eyes grew round, he trusted she was doing more than that.
Tolemek grew aware of someone behind them, and he glanced back to find Colonel Quataldo standing in the shadows, his arms folded over his chest. He did not say anything, but his lips were thin with displeasure. Perhaps Tolemek should have run this by him first.
He shrugged. He would perform the surgery. It would be up to the colonel if he wanted to let the men go. Tolemek just wanted to leave Cas with as few problems as possible back here.
“Nobody’s volunteering to be first,” Kaika said.
“No? A pity. The procedure is quite painless. Let’s do that one.” He pointed to the man she had nudged.
The thief rolled away from him. He bumped into one of his comrades and did not get far.
“Colonel,” Tolemek said. “Will you assist me by holding the subject?”
Quataldo walked over wordlessly. He shot Tolemek a narrow-eyed look, but that was his only objection. With ease that suggested more strength than it seemed his lean, wiry form should possess, he hauled the big thief to his feet.
“Where do you want him?”
“Close enough to the light that I can see what I’m doing.” Tolemek pointed to roots protruding from the water nearby. “Drape his arm across those and push his sleeve up.”
Quataldo did so while crouching behind the man with a knee in his back. He was very effective at making it so that his prisoner could not struggle. Tolemek remembered the way he had dropped three of the thieves before Cas had even started shooting. In Angulus’s atrium, he had seemed an unassuming enough man, but Tolemek had since decided Quataldo wasn’t anyone he wanted for an enemy.
Tolemek set about his work quickly, slicing a slender line in the man’s forearm. The prisoner gasped and tried to pull away, but Quataldo held him fast. The shallow wound should not hurt much, but it was good that the thief was worried about this. He would be less likely to doubt Tolemek’s words, less likely to tattle on the Iskandians. All they needed was three days of silence. Then his team would either be gone or captured. Or dead.
Tolemek inserted one of his flakes into the wound, digging in to make sure it would be embedded deeply enough that his prisoner could not easily scrape it out. The man gasped again. Considering the thieves had been trying to kill his group, Tolemek did not feel too badly about causing a little pain.
“If you try to take it out,” Tolemek said as he finished up, now stitching the cut closed, “it will send poison into your bloodstream that will travel to your heart.”
Kaika, who stood nearby while holding the light, translated.
“Your heart will stop within three minutes.” He held the man’s eyes as Kaika translated, making his face as grim as possible. Sometime after he had started working in his lab in Iskandia, he had tucked his pirate attire into a cabinet, shaved his goatee, and donned clothing typical of the locals. He’d left his hair long, though, the ropy locks tangled and wild, since he believed it made him look fiercer, less like someone people would want to chance irritating. He tried to summon all of that fierceness now as he held the thief’s eyes.
The man only held his gaze for a second, then whispered something to Kaika.
“He says he’s sorry,” she said. “They shouldn’t have been greedy. He has a family, two small girls, and he sends the money he earns from crocodile skins and meat home to them, so they can get by. The fliers were too good to pass up. It could have sent his girls to school.” Kaika snorted. “I don’t believe his story.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Tolemek said, keeping his tone hard so the man would find him more daunting. “So long as he knows he won’t make it back to that family if he betrays our position. Make sure he understands.” He gripped the man’s forearm, his thumb pressing on the fresh sutures. “Do you understand?”
The thief’s head bobbed up and down.
“Get me the next one,” Tolemek said.
“Do you want them retied?” Quataldo asked, the quirk to his lips suggesting he found it odd that he, the mission commander, was asking Tolemek what he wanted done.
“I’ll leave that up to you, Colonel, as to whether you want to release them or not before we go.”
Quataldo tied the thief’s hands behind his back again. Probably not a bad idea since that would keep him from scratching at the sutures even more effectively than Tolemek’s threat. “We’ll decide in the morning.”
In a slow parade, Quataldo fetched him thieves, bringing each one over and holding the man while he received a supposedly magical tracking flake.
Tolemek was tired by the time he finished, but he walked away from the lantern and the eyes of the thieves before cracking a yawn. A sleepy Deathmaker wouldn’t be as frightening of a man, he suspected.
“Do you think they’ll believe it?” Cas asked quietly from behind him. She must have been relieved from her watch by one of the others.
He wondered how long she had been observing. He grimaced, wishing she hadn’t witnessed him being cruel. It might save the group trouble, so it was worth it, but it bothered him that his reputation still worked so well, all these thousands of miles from where he and the Roaming Curse pirates had worked.
“Would you want to risk it?” Tolemek asked.
“Probably not. And we don’t need them to believe it forever.”
“If your colonel agrees, you can set them free in the morning. Letting them go back to wherever they came from will mean you don’t have to worry about feeding them either.”
Cas nodded. “We’ll likely move the camp so they wouldn’t be able to find us again, if they decide to risk telling someone. Make sure to keep the communication crystal close, so we can let you know where we go. We’ll try to get closer to the city, as originally planned.”
“I understand.”
Tolie? Tylie whispered into his mind.
He looked toward the woods, where she slept against Phelistoth’s side. He couldn’t see them from here, but his senses told him the dragon was back in his usual form, the swamp creatures going nowhere near him. Tylie was in the safest place on the continent.
Yes? He hoped she wouldn’t censure him for playing the role of deranged scientist. She had such a gentle soul. Being a healer would be a good career for her.
Phel senses something, she told him.
Another airship?
Another dragon.