Chapter 32
“I’M FINE,” ZIG SAID, WAVING the concern away while the group of us gathered around the fire.
I’d run all the way from my meadow of sorrow, across the stepping stones, and to the camp the others had made.
My breath heaved. Dave landed and circled his body around us, and I couldn’t deny the relief of his presence.
“Don’t worry about it. It was only a little discomfort.
Nothing to bother Ellinore the Brave and the Golden Dragon with, honestly,” he said with a weak chuckle.
He wasn’t fine. His skin was sallow, his brow furrowed with pain. He pressed his mouth into a firm line. And though he tried to hide it by scrunching his body and pulling his knees close, I could see how he clutched his chest, his fingers curving over where his heart lay beating beneath.
“What happened?” I said, lowering myself to a log across from him, the flames of the campfire dancing between us.
Rylan rubbed Zig’s shoulders to try to comfort him, Zig’s tunic bunching beneath Rylan’s large palms. “I don’t know,” Rylan said. “I’d gone to wash off the monster snot, and I heard Zig yell out. I ran back and found him on the ground, writhing.”
“I wasn’t writhing,” Zig said, shrugging off Rylan’s touch. “Don’t exaggerate. I was merely rolling in the dirt.”
Rylan frowned. “You were writhing.”
“Yeah? What do you know of writhing?”
“More than you think.”
Zig’s eyebrows shot up. “Really. Because I was under the impression that—”
“Don’t finish that sentence!” I said, interrupting. “Just… tell me what it feels like. And don’t lie!”
“Ironic coming from you, dear Sister. Don’t you think?”
“Zig!”
He rolled his eyes. “Fine. I was stoking the fire, and suddenly it felt like my heart was ripped from my chest.” He waved his fingers, the edge of a playing card poking from his sleeve. “No big deal.”
“No big deal?” Farrah asked from where she stood near Dave’s tail. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. No big deal! I’m not dead, obviously. It was probably a glitch in the magic.”
I froze.
The sounds of the trio chatting faded out while my thoughts whirled. Glitch in the magic. Why would the…
“Rylan?” I asked slowly. “What did you say you were doing when it happened?”
“Washing off dried Hydra snot. It was surprisingly difficult to scrub off. I had to immerse myself completely in the water, and even then it was hard to remove. It had soaked into my clothes.” He frowned. “I think they’re a lost cause.”
I dived for my saddlebag, which was in a pile near where the others had tied the horses. I wrenched open the flap and yanked out the parchment. I unrolled it and my stomach sank.
Three marks were gone.
When the sun rose, I’d have three days left.
“Ellinore?” Dave asked. “I can hear your pulse racing.”
I stood and brought the countdown parchment over to the others. I held it out, showing them the drawing of the candle that had burned down.
“Rylan, where is the magical scrap?”
“I keep it right here,” he said, sliding his hand into his tunic. “In a pouch so I don’t lose it.”
He took it out and opened it. His eyes widened. Farrah gasped as she peered over his shoulder.
“What is it?” Zig asked.
Rylan held the worn cloth out for us to see. It was sodden, flopping over Rylan’s hand. Golden cursive writing glittered on both sides.
“Saturated in power,” I said, giddy with excitement. “The primordials are inherently powerful and magical. So when you were doused with Hydra snot, and it soaked into your clothes, it saturated the scrap and activated the clue!”
Rylan’s eyes widened. “Oh. Well. I’m glad I kept it close.”
“Me too.” Okay, maybe bards weren’t so bad after all. Still couldn’t forgive the mage part, though.
Zig rubbed his palm over his chest. “So that’s why my heart feels like it’s going to fall out of my body? Because the magic took the three days?”
“Does it still hurt?” I asked, dropping to my knees beside him.
The clues could wait a moment. My brother came first. He’d always come first. That had been one of my mistakes on this adventure, worrying more about his and Aven’s perception of me than the stakes of the actual quest. I’d lost sight of what really mattered. Which was Zig.
“A little. Not as bad as when it happened.”
“Zig.”
“Fine! It hurts, okay? I could vomit I hurt so much.”
I removed the potion vial from beneath my tunic and handed it to him, wrapping his fingers around the glass and silver.
“What’s this?”
“A healing potion.” I nodded toward Dave. “From Dave’s hoard. I’ve been using it for injuries. But I want you to take it. Use it as you need to.”
“It won’t save you,” Dave rumbled, making Zig and the others startle. “Not from the magic of the mages’ bargain. But it will ease the pain until your sister can solve the riddle of the Elder Beast’s location.”
Zig took a sip and sighed, slumping down so his shoulders were propped on the log, and his eyes fluttered shut. “Good potion.”
I took the vial from his limp hand, plugged the end, then tossed the chain around his neck.
“What do we do now?” Farrah asked. She studied the words on the cloth. “These phrases don’t make any sense to me. Like ‘through the eye of a needle.’ Does it mean a sewing needle?”
I stood and gently took the magical piece of cloth from her, then settled down next to Dave so he could peer at the writing as well.
“ ‘Begin at the Edge of the World.’ ” I lifted my head. “Does that mean anything to anyone?”
Rylan shook his head. Zig was practically asleep, eyes closed, features relaxed. Farrah ran toward me and spread out her map on the ground. We looked through all the names but found nothing that even came close.
She hummed. “It must be like the Climbing Wood and the Haunted Forest. Remember when Aven said that locals will refer to places differently? Maybe that’s what’s happening here.”
I ignored the pang of guilt when she spoke Aven’s name. “Yes. I remember. But that doesn’t help us. We don’t have time to run around every town in the kingdom and ask them if the Edge of the World is a colloquial term for anything nearby.”
“Hey,” Zig asked, awake but sprawled bonelessly, his head on Rylan’s thigh, “where is Aven, by the way?”
I avoided his inquiring gaze. “They left. They must have gone back to the castle. I don’t know.”
Farrah took my hand. “Aven is stubborn. And surprisingly impulsive sometimes. Like leaving the castle to join you on a quest and making up a silly lie about the king ordering them to do so instead of just telling you that they missed you and wanted to see you again.”
“Well, I don’t blame them for leaving.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I did lie. About a lot of things.” I gestured to Dave. “The Golden Dragon, for one.”
Farrah wrinkled her nose. “Yes. Well. None of us are perfect.”
“And it does prove my hypothesis that the bard tales are exaggerated if not outright false,” Rylan said with a shrug.
“You don’t care that I lied? That I knowingly took gold from the kingdom under false pretenses?”
Farrah laughed. “If the gold didn’t go to you, it would’ve gone to Lord Ethan.” She said his name with a sneer. “Besides, I’ve witnessed how you handle situations, and I think your way of doing things is admirable. Like you said, we don’t need to hack our way through the world.”
“Rylan?” I prompted.
He smiled. “I’m just happy my theory was validated.”
“But the gold?”
Farrah laughed again. “The king and queen don’t use the kingdom’s gold on their silly bets. That comes from their own personal wealth.”
“What’s the difference?” I asked.
Farrah gently patted my arm. “Oh, you sweet peasant.”
Okay. I didn’t know if I liked that, but at least my friends didn’t seem to mind that I had lied my way to fortune and fame. But it didn’t go unnoticed that Zig had remained quiet.
“Zig?” I asked softly, afraid of his response.
“I’m still processing. Ask me again later.”
“Fair,” I said. “At least you’re willing to think it through. Aven just… left.”
Farrah scooted closer to my side, as if sensing my melancholy, and looped her arm through mine. “They’ll come around.”
I didn’t want to tell her how wrong she was, so I deflected. “So the Edge of the World. It might not be a location. Maybe the Edge of the World is a book or a song? Rylan?” I asked, my voice taking on a desperate edge.
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Ellinore.”
“Let’s get some rest,” Farrah said. “It’s late, and I know I’m exhausted. We can revisit in the morning.” She stood, brushed off her trousers, then rubbed the toe of her boot in the dirt. “Do we need a watch or will the dragon…?”
“His name is Dave. And ask him.”
Farrah cleared her throat. “Dave? Will you keep the first watch?”
Dave chuckled. “There is no need for a watch. No one will approach while I’m here. But if there is trouble, I’ll wake everyone.”
“Oh,” Farrah said with a timid grin. “That sounds great. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I’m Farrah, by the way. That’s Rylan, and that’s Zig.”
Dave laughed again. “I’m pleased to meet you all. I’ve heard a lot about you—Zig in particular.”
“Ignore it all. My sister is a liar, if you haven’t heard,” Zig said from his bedroll, which Rylan had laid out for him.
A lump lodged in my throat.
Without saying good night, I curled up in my own blanket and fell asleep at Dave’s side.