Chapter 26
Leaf
When I woke up the next day, the sun had already risen, and a soft mauve light slanted through the cracks in the curtains. With a gasp, I leaped out of bed, then stumbled around my chamber as I tried to get my bearings.
Where was Ari? Had she slept in, too?
I threw on clothes—a dark red tunic over my Mydorian leathers, Arrow’s feather cloak wrapped around my shoulders—then opened the door.
“Morning,” I said, surprised to find Raiden and Zaret standing outside my room. “I’m going for a walk.”
“We’ll join you,” said Raiden.
“Uh, probably not a good idea. I didn’t get much sleep last night so won’t be very good company.”
“We don’t mind getting our heads snapped off. And Arrow asked us to keep you safe, Zali,” said Zaret. “You should remain in your room until he returns. I’m sorry.”
Right. So those dust-damned traitors had left without me. Or at least they thought they had. Arrow must have forgotten how I reacted to orders. I ignored them.
“Oh? And where is Arrow?” I asked, holding the edge of the door and swinging it back and forth in a distracted manner. “And have you seen Ari this morning?”
Raiden smiled, subtle creases bracketing his warm, brown eyes. “I think you know very well where they are. And in case it all goes to shit, he wanted you as far away from the scene as possible.”
“Okay, that’s reasonable. I’ll take a bath, then. And since you’re so concerned about my safety, I’ll even leave the door open a little so you can hear if I drown.”
Making sure the gap was wide enough for me to fit through, I smiled sweetly, then hurried to the bathing room. I ran the water, clunked some soap about in the tub, and dropped a couple of towels on the floor to mimic the sound of my clothes hitting the floor. Then I pulled an orchid petal from my pocket and rubbed it over my chest.
Magic shivered through me, and I swiveled to face the mirror. Good. It was blank. I turned the faucet off, splashed my hand through the water for a minute, then quietly slipped through the door and past my well-meaning guards into the crisp morning air.
Soon, the chill would disperse, and the sky would be ablaze with dragon fire, but for now, even the dragons and their trainers slumbered soundly in their beds.
When I arrived at the fire moat, no khareek, sneaky Storm King, or two-faced reaver elf were waiting for me. I hurried to the cliffs and peered over the edge. Still no sign of Arrow or Ari, but at least the fire cave was visible, tiny sparks swirling from its mouth, eddying in lazy patterns toward puffy white clouds in the lightening sky.
My heart pounded as I climbed down the slope onto the path cut into the cliff side, and then proceeded toward the cave, terrified of what I might find when I arrived.
At the cave’s entrance, I took a deep breath then marched straight through the wall of fire and the first torch-lit chamber. I moved quickly into the concealed passage toward the back, then followed the rocky tunnel, gasping as I came out into the larger cavern where my friends stood around the pyre of green flames.
Tied to the unbreakable triangle of Xanthanian-metal poles, Orion was unconscious. Green light from the flames flickered over him, the magical bars of the prison sadly still intact.
Arrow held a sleeping Bakhur in his arms, and Ruhh of course, hovered directly above his shoulder. Esen and Ari whispered intently together in the middle of the limestone floor, and fire symbols pulsed along the walls as if in response to the intruders.
Distracted by the strange scene, I collided with a protruding slab of rock and stumbled, my boots scuffling loudly as I regained my balance.
“What was that?” asked Arrow, his glyphs igniting as he looked around the cave.
“It’s only Zali,” said Ruhh.
Three heads swiveled in my direction, their brows raised and eyes wide.
“The fuck,” growled Arrow. “Where?”
“She’s used the petals again,” continued Ruhh, “and is invisible to your eyes, but not mine. Because of my… deceased state, most forms of magic don’t work on me.”
“And I can see you all clearly,” I said. “Why aren’t you under Ari’s cloak?”
“I’m conserving my energy while we’re in the cave,” she replied, squinting in my general direction. “Where are you, Leaf?”
I stepped forward and gently grasped Ari’s hand. “I’m here. I’ll stay on your left side.”
Arrow came up beside us, and like a blind man, used his free hand to pat my face, my shoulders, then squeeze me roughly. “You should be asleep. Why won’t you let me keep you safe?”
I tucked a chunk of gold hair behind his ear. “I’m invisible. If anyone turns up, I can run fast. I’ll be fine. But thank you for caring. Now, what’s the plan?”
Orion moaned and lifted his head, his single orange eye staring at my friends through a haze of floating embers. My gut churned at the sight of him. He looked terrible, his body soaked with sweat, mangled tusks faded to chalky white, and his dark hair and beard stringy and bleached of color. It was hard to believe he was still alive.
I moved closer to the pyre, the stench of suffering and magic strong. “Get him down. Please, someone… Ruhh?”
Arrow propped Bakhur on his feet, holding him against his side. “Ruhh, what should we do next?”
“To break the Sentura spell, Bakhur’s saliva must be added to the flames,” she said.
Arrow held the prince face-first over the pit, and Ari gripped his chin, keeping his jaw open.
“Try massaging his cheeks,” I suggested.
Ari squeezed and rubbed, Bakhur’s lips forming comical shapes, but no spit dripped out.
“Fuck this.” Arrow crouched down and shoved Bakhur’s face even closer to the flames, shaking him until his tongue lolled out. Finally, half-choking, Bakhur spluttered, and a long string of drool sizzled down onto the pyre.
Lifting Bakhur into his arms, Arrow leaped backward. We stood with our hearts in our mouths, waiting for something to happen.
“It didn’t work,” said Esen after a few minutes.
Then Orion moaned, and the belly of the mountain seemed to rumble and groan, the ground shaking beneath our feet. Outside, thunder cracked across the sky, and I glanced at Arrow. His hands flexed with the need to connect to its power, and he threw his arms up, fingers spread wide. But the storm refused to answer his call.
Rocks and crystals cracked off the cave’s roof, debris shattering around us. The runes on the walls flashed bright green, then turned a dull shade of ocher, like the branches of a dead swamp tree.
With a loud whoosh, the pyre’s flames twirled upward, transforming into billowing gray smoke that hit the top of the cave then disappeared with an ear-popping sucking sound.
Emitting a broken whimper, Orion slumped forward, his body straining against his bonds.
“It’s all right,” I said, stepping into the empty pit and hugging his knees carefully. “We’ll get you out of here.”
Esen used fire magic to sever the dragon-hide ropes binding his wrists and ankles to the poles, and then lifted him from the frame. “He weighs nothing,” she said, laying him on the ground with great care.
“Leave me… please. Not safe,” Orion muttered, his broken words barely audible. “Dead anyway.”
“Orion, please don’t say that.” I bent and brushed sweat-soaked hair from his face, untangling it from the remains of his tusks. “We won’t let you die.”
“Leaf? I can’t see you. Are you…”
“I’m here, but I’m invisible, as you soon will be, too. Safe under the Sayeeda’s cloak.”
Ari held a water pouch to Orion’s cracked lips, and he drank deeply, somehow managing to keep the liquid down. She broke up pieces of dried meat and tucked them into the sides of his cheeks. “If you haven’t the strength to chew and swallow, just suck on them. I’m putting more in your pockets.”
“It’s all arranged, Orion,” said Arrow as he nodded for Esen to pick the orc up again. “As we speak, in the second bay around the coastline, a fishing boat waits, cloaked by the reaver elves on board. They are healers and have ample food, water, and comfort to offer. On the Light Realm coast, eponars are waiting to carry your party to the sanctuary of Auryinnia, where the Zareen herself and your wife will oversee your recovery.”
“My wife?” Orion croaked.
Arrow nodded. “Yes. You must hold on. You have much to live for.”
“How?” I asked, as Ari whispered the reaver chant— auron khaban ana— calling the magic forward, but not fully activating her cloak. “How did you organize all of this in so little time?”
“Speaking of time, yours is running out. You must speak later,” urged Ruhh as she flew through the cavern like an angry wasp. “It’s no longer safe here.”
Arrow led us through the dark passage, his deep voice echoing in the confined space. “On the night that Azarn tortured Orion in the hall, Esen began working on a plan to get him out of the Sun Realm. She’s trusted here and could communicate with our contacts in other realms.”
So, it seemed he had fully reconciled with his ex-guard and held no grudge against her for aligning with the fire fae or conspiring to arrest me. Arrowyn Ramiel continued to surprise me.
Outside, a raging storm attacked the cliffs above and the sea below, Arrow shuddering with each flash of lightning as if it had struck him between the shoulder blades.
If enduring a foul storm was the sole consequence of breaking the Sentura-Pyre spell, then we’d gotten off very lightly.
Ari activated her reaver cloak, and to stay in its range, we traveled close together, slipping and sliding down the rocky trail toward the beach, with Esen balancing Orion on her shoulder and Arrow carrying the unconscious prince rather carelessly, his night robes trailing the sand.
When Bakhur woke up, he would have a brutal crick in his neck.