CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE ISI
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
ISI
We woke early, bathed and dressed, and went downstairs, finding Thorne and Addie in the kitchen, the commander preparing breakfast. Addie supervised from where she sat in a stool near a counter while Thorne cooked eggs, potatoes, and browned thick slices of bread he coated with butter.
Kerralyn, Derren, and Lexie joined us not long after, and we carried the meal on platters into the dining room, sitting and filling our plates.
While Commander Thorne left to patrol the valley, we ate quickly, not saying much. We all knew what was coming next. We had to rush to Syllavar, solidify the plan to rescue the prisoners, and reach Caldrith before the Day of Mercy.
Commander Thorne returned as we were finishing.
“We’ve got a problem.” His gaze met mine. “I found tracks while I was out there. Fresh. A group circled the valley recently.”
The implication settled like a boulder in my belly, and it was all I could do to finish my bite and swallow. “They know we’re here.”
“Possibly.” His frown deepened. “Or they’re searching. Either way, we’re not as safe here any longer.”
“The wards—”
“Don’t appear to be holding any longer.”
Horror filled me. “I broke them.”
Addie shook her head. “I don’t sense it’s that. I think…” A frown filled her face. “I think they’ve found a way around them.”
Trew was already rising from his chair, his half-eaten breakfast forgotten. “Show me.”
I followed him and Thorne outside, finding the morning air crisp and clean, which felt odd knowing the stink of the wasteland surrounded this isolated valley.
Trew climbed onto Lakast’s back and the dragon burst into flight. The others went back inside, but I waited for Trew to return. It didn’t take long. He landed the dragon and slid off his back, striding over to meet me where I stood at the top of my steps.
The worry on his face made my breath still in my lungs. He reached up and stroked my cheek before sliding a strand of my hair behind my ear.
“What did you find?” I asked.
He nudged his chin toward the door. “Inside, and I’ll share.”
Back in the dining room, we joined the others at the table. Pherin fluttered to my shoulder, her tiny body rigid with tension. Gavelle perched on the top of the chair behind Trew.
Everyone watched him, waiting.
A muscle in Trew’s jaw tightened. “There are Skathes gathering along the southern valley border. Thirty or so.”
“Anywhere else?” I asked.
“Not so far.”
“How close are they?” Addie asked, her fingers whitening around her teacup.
“Close enough that they’ll find a weak point in the wards before nightfall.” Trew’s gaze met mine. “We need to leave for Syllavar. Now.”
“No.” Addie slumped back in her chair. “We can’t. Not yet. Fenmark is out there. We need to find him and rescue him.”
My heart squeezed at the desperation in her voice. We’d only just found her, and already she was being asked to abandon the man she loved to possible death. Her drake chimed a mournful note, echoing her grief.
I reached across the table for her hand. “Addie—”
“I can’t leave him.” Her eyes filled with tears. “He’s suffering. I can feel it.”
Trew leaned forward, the lines of his body both soft with compassion and hard with urgency.
“I understand. Truly. He’s my cousin. I love him like a brother.
And if it was Isi out there…” His voice roughened.
“But we have twenty-three prisoners who’ll be executed in a matter of days if we don’t rescue them.
It’ll take time to return to Syllavar on dragonback, then fly to Caldrith.
That leaves us very little time to get a plan in place and execute it.
I want to…” He swallowed hard. “We can’t rescue Fenmark yet. ”
The conflict tore through me. Twenty-three lives versus one. My people versus the man my sister loved. Each life wasn’t a number to be weighed against others.
“We can’t choose,” I whispered.
“We don’t have to.”
Kerralyn stood, her expression stoic. Keek chittered from where he sat beside her plate. Earlier, he’d been stealing food. Now he looked like he was going to be sick.
“I’ll stay,” she said. “I’ll find and rescue Fenmark. I grew up visiting Syllavar Court. I know what he looks like.” She tapped her temple. “I can outsmart a bunch of mindless Skathes.” Her smile rose but it came shaky.
“Not without me.” Derren also stood.
Lexie rose, nodding. “I’m in.”
“Since you’re a warrior, you’ve probably fought Skathes,” Thorne said. “So you know there’s no way you’ll get close enough to find Fenmark. They’ll kill you on sight.”
“Which is why we’ll go disguised as Skathes,” Derren said, his gaze seeking Trew’s. “You’ve done it before. You created disguises for Fenmark and Addie and for us when we covered for you in the village.”
“Our disguise necklaces failed.” Addie’s voice broke. “They were detected at the breach.”
Lexie braced her palms on the table and gave us all a level look. “Then we’ll stay away from the breach.”
“You were exposed because of the pendant,” I said, the pieces clicking together. “It glowed when you got close to the veil tear. Without that, your disguise may have held.”
“Then this could work,” Kerralyn said, sitting again, her journal out and notes already written across a fresh page. “Especially if Trew’s magic has strengthened.”
“She means through your bond.” Lexie nodded toward Trew and me. “Twin flames bond twice, remember? The weave strengthens.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Trew growled, but his objection held little conviction. Like me, he must see this as our only chance to do two things at the same time.
“We can’t let Fenmark die.” Derren grunted. “Twenty-three innocent people will soon drink ashwine. There are no good choices left.”
“Assuming this could work, how would we find you again?” I asked. The thought of separating from them, possibly forever, made my lungs ache.
“When we find Fenmark, we’ll make our way back through the wasteland. Wait for us here, after the rescue,” Kerralyn said, stroking Keek’s small form. “Our companions can’t come with us.”
Keek scrambled up her arm and pressed against her neck.
“They’ll have to return to Syllavar with you while we search,” she said. “There would be no place to hide them and Skathes would kill them if they were caught.”
“Just, um, don’t lop off our heads when you return and find us waiting,” Lexie said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“And if you don’t find him?” Commander Thorne asked, the practical question no one wanted to voice.
“We’ll still come here.” Lexie lifted her chin. “A week will give you time to rescue the prisoners and us time to search.”
Pherin’s wings brushed my cheek.
Not like, she said in my mind. Friends become monsters.
“You’re right,” I whispered back. “But is there any other way to save Fenmark and my people?”
Pherin settled, not happily, but accepting.
We debated details. Trew explained how his disguise magic worked, the limitations, and the dangers. Addie described the Skathe encampment layout, the hierarchies she’d observed, and the patterns of movement that might help them blend in.
My stomach twisted tighter with each passing moment. We were sending our friends into the most dangerous place imaginable, wearing the skins of monsters, to save a man who might already be beyond saving.
“It’s decided then,” Trew finally said, his voice heavy. “We’ll leave for Syllavar as soon as possible. You three will search for Fenmark, then meet us here in a week.”
“A week,” Derren said. “No matter what.”
Pherin made a distressed sound before launching from my shoulder to land on the table near my friends, looking up at them.
Be safe, she told me to tell them, which I did.
The gesture was so tender it made my throat close.
“I need to prepare the transformation,” Trew said, rising. “It’s…not easy to craft a disguise that will last that long. Gather what supplies you’ll need.”
“You can’t take anything,” Addie told my friends.
A frown knit Derren’s brow. “We know Skathes suck power, but do they eat as well?”
“From my research, I learned that they occasionally will.” Kerralyn winced. “Decaying carcasses. Each other if one’s down but not yet dead and turned to ashes. Whatever they find in the swampier parts of the wasteland.”
“I can disguise packs as well,” Trew said. “Gather some dense, nutritional food to bring with you, enough for a week.” His gaze sought Addie, who nodded.
“I have some provisions in my stockroom.” She also got up, bracing her palms on the table to keep herself steady. “And flasks that will magically purify water.”
“I’ll help them,” Commander Thorne told her. “You need to rest before you leave with Isi.”
Addie’s eyes widened. “I thought I’d stay here and wait for him.” Her shoulders fell. “Which I can’t do, of course, if it’s not safe.” Tears swam in her eyes. “I feel so useless. I can’t rescue the man I love. I can barely walk across the room.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said. “They hurt you.”
She sighed. “That doesn’t make it any easier to bear, but thank you.”
“Can you explain why they forced you to travel?” Kerralyn asked, taking notes in her journal. “You said something about widening the breach in the veil?”
“Think of the veil as a massive door that was accidentally cracked open,” Addie said.
“The controllers don’t have the key or specific bloodline to manipulate it, so they forced me to try to break the edges, hoping they could then rip the door off its hinges forever.
” She pulled in a breath and released it.
“I fought them, but they hurt me. When they started torturing Fenmark, I did as they asked, though I only broke small bits of the edges, not the large chunks I was capable of.”
Kerralyn’s eyes had gone wide. “That’s…incredible.” She ducked back over her journal, scribbling quickly.
What could any of us say after that?
As our friends left with Commander Thorne to prepare, Trew’s eyes darkened with worry, lines deepening around his mouth. He caught my gaze and reached for me, his fingers brushing my cheek.