“Yes, I believe that. When I was a child, my mother and father told me about the ghost dragons beyond the forest—they were something to be feared. Is that what your dragons were like? Wild and fierce?”
“Not to us, because we are at peace in the seven islands. For now, anyway. The Revinir wants to take over the rule there, too.”
“She makes a lot of plans,” said Rohan. “But she’s barely conquered one city here, and now that’s in jeopardy.”
“I thought everyone was afraid of her.”
“They are. It’s because she’s so secretive and sneaky. She managed to capture dragons and build an army right under their feet—the people up there fear the unknown. How big is her underground army? How strong is she? How rich? How many dragons are under her control? No one knows because they can’t get in.”
“How did you find that out? From the soldiers?”
Rohan nodded. “And other newer children when they come in—I try to find a way to question them.”
“You are very popular. I wish I could learn the common language so I can speak to the others. I’ve only picked up a few words so far.”
“I can teach you once we’re out of here.”
Once we’re out of here. Thisbe bit her lip anxiously. They both grew somber and hurried on, knowing they might not ever get out of here. And now that the Revinir knew of their secret tunnel, they’d most certainly be kept far apart if they got caught.
At the next intersection, two soldiers stopped them, a man and a woman. “Where are you going at this time of night?” the woman asked.
Rohan smiled to appear sheepish. “The Revinir is punishing us again. I’m too friendly—it’s really becoming a hazard to my rest time.” He laughed, and the male soldier gave a reluctant smile. The female soldier remained stern but didn’t press him.
“Has anyone found the traitor who ran away?” Rohan asked them.
The woman remained suspicious. “Not yet. What do you know about him? Did he tell you of these plans?” She looked at Thisbe. “How about you? You worked with him.”
“I had no idea. I despised him. We barely spoke.”
The woman studied Thisbe, then stepped aside. “Go on, then. Don’t let the Revinir catch you talking together or you’ll have even more work to do.”
“You make an excellent point,” said Rohan. “Thank you for the advice.” They continued on in silence, with Rohan dropping back from Thisbe for appearances until they made the next turn. All they had left now was the group of guards at the river exit, and there was no telling how many were there—with any luck at least some of them would’ve been called away to help with the wounded soldiers from the square and the search for Dev.
Thisbe was quiet, wondering if Dev had known about the princess coming for him. She doubted it greatly—his earlier heartbreak had been too real to fake. Thisbe could tell that much just from her time studying acting with Samheed. It took a lot of studying to appear that realistic when pretending to cry. She was sure Dev hadn’t ever had the opportunity to act in his life. He was manipulative, sure. But he’d tried fighting off those tears with all his might, and he hadn’t succeeded. She believed the princess must have surprised him by showing up at the market. The thought made her angry. Princess Shanti hadn’t been nice to Dev. She’d used him as a whipping boy, making him take punishment for the wrongs she’d done. That wasn’t a friendship. If Dev considered that to be what friends do to each other, he had no understanding of the meaning of the word.
In that moment, thinking on friendship, Thisbe’s heart wrenched. She missed Fifer and Seth. She missed her writing class with Lani and her dance class with the lounge band and her fencing class with Kaylee, which she’d only just begun. She longed to see Aaron again—he’d always made her feel better when Alex had been angry with her and Fifer. And even as confused and upset as she was about no one coming to rescue her, she still missed Alex, and she felt terrible about leaving like they’d done. She knew he loved her and Fifer dearly. A little too dearly, but was that all bad? She bet Dev would give anything to have someone care so much for him. Something had to have happened for Alex and the others not to have come after her. “I hope you’re okay out there,” she said under her breath.
By now Rohan had caught up with her. “What’s that?”
“Nothing.” They continued on. When the sound of the river became evident, Thisbe began flexing her fingers and trying to work up some anger to cover the melancholy feelings she had. It didn’t take long—she just needed to think about that morning, when the Revinir had ambushed her with the broth.
Rohan glanced sideways at her and stayed quiet, seeing she was concentrating. Soon they came up to the narrow hallway where they’d need to turn. They stopped to look all around, and then Rohan, growing anxious, asked Thisbe what she thought the best plan was.
Thisbe had forgotten that she’d never told him. She’d thought of it two nights ago but hadn’t seen him since then, and with the excitement about Dev and with the Revinir, she’d forgotten all about the fact that he was approaching this without insight or instructions.
“When we get within sight of the soldiers,” Thisbe said, “unhook your dragon bone and leave it behind, but keep your harness on. We’ll need it later.”
“Okay,” said Rohan. “To get across the river?”
“Possibly. If not that, we’ll need them eventually for something, I’m sure.” She tapped her lips, then said, “We’re going to have to fight them. I’m not sure how many good shots I have before I start shooting worthless sparks. I should have several, but I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday, so I’m not feeling terribly strong. We’ll just have to wait and see. I’ll go for the biggest ones first. Stay out of my line of fire, but if you can do anything at all to help, that would be grand. I wish you had a weapon.”
Rohan bent down and pulled up his pant leg. There was a dagger, tied to his leg. “Like this?”
“Where’d you get that?”
“I lifted it off a soldier yesterday. I figured we might need it.”
“Well done,” said Thisbe. A spark of hope grew inside her. Maybe they’d have a chance. “Stay back until they come at us. We may need to make a break for it past them. Then stick close to the left wall. If we’re lucky, we won’t get wet at all.”
Rohan raised an eyebrow while Thisbe detailed the rest of her plan. When Rohan was clear on the procedure, they locked eyes for a moment, then moved forward and went around the corner.
There were five soldiers there, guarding the river exit. As Thisbe headed toward them, Rohan turned sharply. “Thisbe!” he whispered.
She looked back. The two guards from the last intersection were running toward them from behind, and the five in front of them had noticed them coming. They were surrounded.
The Plan Backfires
It’s now or never,” Thisbe said quietly. “Let’s go!” She stayed far away from the soldiers, hoping the distance would give her better aim, then shot a ball of fire at the largest soldier by the river. It exploded on his chest and, like the snake in the desert, he flew into dozens of pieces that mostly landed in the river. “Whoa,” said Thisbe. She let out a breath. “Okay. That’s one down.”
The soldiers tried to figure out what had just happened, but they were flabbergasted and couldn’t make sense of it.
Thisbe felt terrible. But she had to continue. She used a little less power on the next one, knocking him to the ground almost as easily. Even if the remaining three didn’t understand magic, they knew enough to rush at the source of it. The closer they got, the poorer Thisbe’s aim was. She pointed again, her finger burning and throbbing, and shot off another fireball. It slammed into a soldier’s legs and flipped her up into the air. She crashed to the floor, conscious and crying out, but unable to get up.
Meanwhile Rohan took on the two advancing from behind. He yelled out an apology, then punched the woman in the face, dropping her. He looked at the other guard, who was one of his friends, and just g
ave him a pleading look. “Please, Gustav,” he said. “Just give us a chance.”
The man looked uncertain for a long moment, then sighed heavily. “All right. Go, before I change my mind.” He dropped to the ground, faking an injury.
“Thank you,” said Rohan. He turned quickly to help Thisbe with the remaining two soldiers.
Thisbe’s finger was black with soot and searing with pain. She tried her other hand and shot off another medium-size ball of fire. It missed wildly. She wished she’d practiced with that hand. She tried a second time and missed again as the two soldiers closed in.
Rohan came running, brandishing his dagger. The soldiers had swords and ran at them, leaving Rohan trying to dodge and weave without getting hit, and trying desperately to get close enough to get a jab in himself. He had no experience, though he was pretty good at avoiding the sword.
Thisbe slipped past them toward the river and turned around, shooting off sparks with her eyes when the guards spun around to go after her. A pair of sparks slammed into a soldier’s eyes and he cried out, covering them and moving about in serious pain, unable to see. Thisbe quickly dispersed some more sparks at the remaining guard, aiming for and hitting her hand. She dropped the sword and Rohan moved in, slamming his knee into her stomach and grabbing her sword. But she dropped to the ground gasping for breath, and he held off hurting her further.
“Come on!” said Thisbe. “Quickly!”
They ran to the river and stood at the edge. Thisbe quickly cast invisible hooks, like the one outside her bedroom window in the mansion, just above the water line, putting them all the way across. Then she cast another line of them at shoulder height.
“One of the soldiers is getting up,” said Rohan under his breath.
Thisbe glanced back. “You go across first. I can swim better than you in case they knock me in. Just feel around on the wall for the hooks, and trust me. They’ll hold you fine. Step on the low ones and grab on to the high ones and walk across.” Thisbe turned and shot sparks at the soldier coming at them. The woman cried out in pain but kept coming.
Rohan reached out, feeling for the first hook. When he found it, he grabbed on, then moved his foot above the water along the rock wall, trying to find the foothold.
“No hurry or anything,” said Thisbe, seeing another soldier stirring.
“I’m trying to go as fast as I can,” said Rohan.
Thisbe tried a wrong-handed throw and ended up accidentally shooting an invisible hook instead of a fireball at the woman. It apparently struck her, and she yelped and reached for her nose. Blood streamed down.
Thisbe was getting tired. She didn’t have any sparks left. She glanced over her shoulder at Rohan, who was reaching for the next hooks. He needed to go faster. But if he faltered and slipped, he’d be dead. Thisbe didn’t want to rush him.
A second soldier was getting up now. Thisbe ran at the man, who swung his sword at her. She jumped, but the blade caught her in the lower leg, slicing into her. “Ouch! Hurry, Rohan!”
“I’m trying!”
Thisbe summoned all her strength and sent a weak fireball from her burning finger. It hit its mark, dropping the man temporarily. But the woman soldier was moving more quickly again.
“Okay, Thisbe!” Rohan shouted at the last set of hooks. “Come on!” He jumped to safety.
Thisbe ran for the wall, then placed a glass spell in front of the woman who was chasing her. She banged into it and recoiled, giving Thisbe enough time to turn and reach for the first hook. Her fingers were growing numb from the burning pain, but she swiped them along the wall, desperate to find it. Finally she felt it and grabbed on. She put her foot out and slid it along the wall.
“Look out, Thisbe!” shouted Rohan.
Thisbe couldn’t look. Her foot struck the first hook and she pulled herself onto it, then, shaking, reached for the next ones. Stretching precariously, she turned her head to see the man maneuvering around the glass barricade and coming toward her.
“Thisbe!” screamed Rohan.
The soldier lifted his sword and batted the side of it against Thisbe’s hand on the first hook. She shrieked in pain and let go, balanced for an instant on one foot. Then the soldier struck her again, and she plunged backward into the rushing river.
More Trouble
Thisbe hadn’t had time to take a breath. She choked and sucked in a mouthful of water and flailed as the river’s current whipped her upside down. She couldn’t find her bearings. She couldn’t tell where the surface was. All she knew was that she didn’t have much time before she’d be swept under the wall.
Finally she righted herself and surfaced, the wall coming fast at her. Coughing and sputtering, she lifted her arms and turned her face, and slammed into it. Her fingers raked at the sheer stone as she tried to find something to hold on to. It was that or be forced under.
“Hook,” she cried, but it didn’t appear where she needed it. She was slipping, her legs and midsection already pulled beneath. The only thing holding her here was the pressure of water against her back, pressing her face and chest against the wall just above the surface. But the river’s grasp on her legs was strong. She took a deep breath and continued to struggle as it pulled her down an inch at a time.
“Thisbe! I’m here!” Rohan yelled. “Reach for me! Grab my harness!” He was safely on the far bank, throwing the end of his harness to her, but it was too far away. Thisbe couldn’t get there, and she couldn’t let go of the wall to reach for it.
When her hands slipped, she submerged and was swept under the wall. She cast a glass spell in front of her and immediately slammed into it feetfirst, her knees buckling. It stopped her and kept her from being swept away, but she couldn’t swim upstream against a current like this, and she wasn’t sure how far under the wall she’d gone. Blindly she cast another glass spell in front of the one that was there, making the glass twice as thick and putting her a half inch closer to where she needed to be.
She could hold her breath for a long time, but was it long enough to cast enough glass spells to inch her way back into the hallway?
She tried again to cast hooks, and this time she managed to place two of them on the rock above her. She reached for them and pulled herself against the current. Then two more. Once again she could hear Rohan shouting—he had no idea that Thisbe could survive underwater for so long, and she knew he must be beside himself. But she couldn’t think about him right now. She hung on to the hooks and pulled her legs up to her chest, then cast another glass spell to push off against with her feet and to stop her from losing the ground she’d gained. Then she cast two more hooks and nearly reached the hallway wall. She gripped them and pulled with all her might, until finally her head was back in the hallway. She used her chin as leverage and her face broke the surface. She sucked in a big breath, then quickly cast more hooks on the wall. Reaching up, she found them and grabbed hold. She pulled her body along with her, casting another set of hooks just above the surface toward Rohan’s side of the river. She moved sideways one hook at a time, fighting the current, her arms aching. She could hear his muffled shouts, and then she felt something hit her in the head.
It was his harness, in a loop. Thisbe grabbed on, trying to slide her arm through the loop, and managing to hook it around her elbow. “Got it!” she cried, her voice ragged. When it grew taut, she let go of the hooks.
Rohan pulled her to his side of the river. When she reached it, he got on his knees and yanked her up and onto the passageway floor. He rolled her over.
She looked up at him and coughed. “Thanks.”
“How are you possibly alive?” he exclaimed. Then he glanced across the river at the soldiers, and his face changed. “Oh no,” he muttered, getting up. The one who had batted Thisbe into the river was coming across on the original invisible hooks like Rohan had done. “Get up, Thisbe. Look!”
Thisbe lifted her upper body and turned to see what was happening. Then she held her hand up at the hooks. “Release!” she said we
akly. The invisible hooks apparently disappeared, for the soldier plunged into the water and was swept away, never to be seen again.
“Gods of nature!” muttered Rohan as he watched the soldier disappear. “Who are you?” His face was stricken, and he looked to Thisbe to know what to do next.
Safe for the moment, Thisbe released the other spells so the soldiers couldn’t use them, and slowly got to her feet, dripping wet. Together she and Rohan moved toward the fresh air. By now it was nearly dawn, and they’d made it across the river.
When they reached the exit, they peered out to see where their journey would take them next. The sheer wall of rock, almost perpendicular the ground, landed at the edge of the crater lake, hundreds of feet below them. Thisbe’s stomach turned—her fear of heights hadn’t magically gone away. She swallowed hard and stepped back. “Blurgh,” she muttered, trying to calm her butterflies.
“Now what do we do?” asked Rohan, still rattled. He didn’t look excited about the prospects either. It seemed impossible.
Thisbe took a few deep breaths and shook out her arms, which felt weak after performing so much magic and struggling in the river. How was she going to climb down from here? She glanced back at the soldiers, two of whom were helping the remaining injured ones now. The one that had let Rohan go was one of them, and he refused to look up at the escapees. It seemed strange that no new soldiers were coming to this area. Hadn’t anyone gone to summon help? Or had they given up on the two and simply considered them a loss?
Perhaps there would be soldiers waiting for them by the time they reached the bottom. Then again, Thisbe imagined the soldiers would never expect them to make it down alive. So it seemed most likely that they’d ended pursuit to spare their own lives.