19. Drum Beats and Lightning Strikes Are Quite Handy
Drum Beats and Lightning Strikes Are Quite Handy
SAPPHIRA
T he following week is chaos, preparing for the king’s arrival.
“Does he have to come with me?” Kaelen asks with a pout, glaring over at a smiling Dorian. His scowl only deepens, cheeks pink with emotion and hair ruffled by the breeze as he sets down his pack on the hill. “I don’t want him riding me.”
Sapphira has to swallow her snort, keeping her face carefully blank as she says, “Yes, you can’t go alone. None of us should be alone right now, and Dorian is a good fighter. Also, he’s more likable than you.” She raises a brow as if to dare him to argue.
He sticks his tongue out. I love him and would do anything for him at this point, but it’s true.
His sass and stubbornness can rub people the wrong way.
I know because my sass and stubbornness rub people the wrong way.
Dorian isn’t like that though. He adjusts way quicker than I do .
Sapphira’s aware that before she knows it, he will be charming the pants off everyone in Cielo.
“So you’ll need him if you’re going to convince anyone to join us,” she adds.
Kaelen rolls his eyes but doesn’t deny her claims that he’s difficult to get close to.
“Don’t worry!” Dorian says cheerily. “You can count on us. You just need to worry about your part of the plan, and we will gather the troops.” He gives a mock salute. “Cornelius’s army is large. Bigger than you can imagine. We’ll need a lot of power to defeat him.”
Sapphira nods. “Got it. Now get going, and try to get along.” She points a finger.
Kaelen groans, rolling his eyes. Turning his back to Dorian, he runs and leaps into the air, the shift overcoming him like rippling water.
Sapphira observes the awed look in Dorian’s eyes as he stares at the giant draek?n.
He seems much more surprised and awed than Sapphira had been.
She was terrified the first time she saw it. She thought Kaelen would eat her.
“Be safe,” Sapphira says as Dorian climbs the harness onto Kaelen’s back. To Isabel, she says, “I hope they don’t kill each other. If Kaelen eats my childhood friend, I’ll be very upset.”
“They’ll be fine,” Isabel says, taking Sapphira’s hand as she leads her back inside. “It took you a while to warm up to him too. And look at you now. Two Gringalds in a pod.
Sapphira doesn’t even ask what that means.
They sit on the floor, a map of the village and surrounding forest spread out before them.
Sapphira watches Isabel, who’s bent over the map and mumbling under her breath as her fingers pick at her lips.
Sapphira wants to smooth out the adorable wrinkle in her brow. But instead, she clears her throat.
“First, we should warn everyone in the village. For all we know, the king’s men could be here already, and they might use them to get to us.”
Isabel’s eyes widen, her shoulders straightening, and Sapphira gets a warm feeling in her stomach at the look in the chimera’s eyes. “What?” she asks, laughing nervously and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
Breathy, Isabel says, “Sapphira, you genius.”
Sapphira wants to melt. “I don’t know what I did,” she says, “but I’ll take it.”
They head into the village, visiting everyone they know and anyone the king might use against them.
“If anyone comes to find us, let them know that I’ll be up on Mount Astralorn,” Isabel tells them. Senora Alvita pushes guava into her hands, and Isabel adds, “Stay out of the forest for the coming weeks. Don’t travel alone.”
Splitting up to cover more ground, Sapphira shops, buying bread, dry fish, and other food to last a few weeks. She grabs anything she thinks they might need for a trip away.
Isabel warns everyone she comes across, including Bembe, Abisai (who is looking much healthier), the hat maker, Laisa . . .
Back home, Isabel jars medicine and salves while Sapphira packs swords, knives, and sleeping packs. Isabel slips a drum into the pack and Sapphria gives her an odd look. “It’ll come in handy,” she says. “I promise.”
Once they’ve prepared as much as they can, exhausted and filled with nerves, they head up the mountain to ensure that no one else will get caught up in this fight. Cornelius is Sapphira’s responsibility, and she must take care of it.
They climb the peak in a day. It’s best to bring Cornelius and the Sairin army as far from town and innocent civilians as possible, so they set up on Mount Astralorn because it’s a safer location for their battle.
With more trees and hiding places, they set up their traps and huddle in a cramped cave at the top of the mountain.
The first night is rough, and Sapphira can’t sleep, tossing and turning as she imagines facing Cornelius and Circe once again.
“Are you all right?” Isabel’s voice, rough with sleep, startles her.
She turns to the chimera in the dark. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to keep you awake.”
Isabel yawns. “It’s okay.” She shuffles until she’s up against Sapphira’s side, her head on her chest. Sapphira’s heart beats faster, her arm coming up hesitantly to lie on her waist. “Tell me about it.”
Sapphira’s quiet for a moment, listening as Isabel’s deep breathing syncs to her own. “I was thinking about the battle and King Cornelius.”
“Yeah?”
“And Circe.”
Isabel’s head rises. She looks at Sapphira. “Circe?”
Sapphira brushes a stray curl from Isabel’s face, pushing it behind her ear. “She was nothing,” Sapphira says.
“But she could have been something?”
She’s silent for a moment, then says, “No. No, she couldn’t have. The Circe I thought I knew didn’t exist. She was just using me. I was vulnerable and desperate for someone to notice me, and then this pretty woman did, and I thought, Finally. I won’t be alone now .”
She swallows the lump in her throat. Isabel rubs her hand over Sapphira’s heart. Her breath catches.
“I would never do what she did to you,” Isabel says fiercely.
Sapphira smiles, kissing Isabel’s forehead. “I know.”
“Are you sure about this?” Isabel asks, wringing her hands nervously as they stand at the peak of the mountain, staring out at the rising sun. Sapphira nods, holding her hand out for the draek?n horn.
“The serpere said to blow this if we ever need help. We need help.” Sapphira blows the horn, the sound soft and breathy like a flute. It carries long, whisking over the breeze. “All we can do now is wait and hope it isn’t too late.”
During the day, Isabel treks through the thick brush and trees, muttering up a storm as she searches for signs of Canitam.
Sapphira still isn’t quite sure what the creatures are, except that they are of the primate family and the males of the species obey commands at the beat of continuous rhythmic vibrations.
Isabel said they will be helpful in our fight against the king and I’m going to take her word for it.
Isabel checks the branches for unnatural breaks, hand prints, and droppings in the dirt. She even scouts the rivers and ponds for hours, hoping they might appear.
In the evening, she teaches Sapphira as much as she can about tracking and medicine.
Sapphira’s brain feels like it’s melting as she tries to keep up.
But Isabel is pushing so hard, so she can too.
She learns how to weave armor and make smoke balls.
In the evenings, she’s outside, swinging her elven sword and pretending King Cornelius is in front of her.
One night, Sapphira watches Isabel pull a banana leaf from her satchel and unwrap a dead, cracked star. A brilliant, blinding light leaks from it. Isabel just stares at it.
“You look exhausted,” Sapphira says one evening as they pick berries at the side of a cliff.
The wind is whipping around them, biting at their cheeks.
Sapphira’s lips are chapped, cheeks raw.
Isabel looks up at her with tired eyes, a small smile lifting her cheeks and lighting her face.
She reaches out, squeezing Sapphira’s hand.
Sapphira says, “You should get some more sleep.”
Isabel shakes her head. “I’m fine. I’m not leaving you. We’re doing this together.” Sapphira opens her mouth. “Really,” Isabel says. “I know it sounds awful, but . . . I’m happy.” She looks around the jungle and then back at Sapphira. “I enjoy being here with you. This is fun.”
Sapphira tugs her chipped nail between her teeth. Fun. Isabel truly is fascinating .
“I think I found them!” Isabel says on the seventh day.
She bounds through the trees as Sapphira is practicing her swing. Sapphira looks up, lowering her sword. “I think I found the Canitam territory. There are prints everywhere, and mounds in the grass. Canitam bury their waste, and . . .” her words trail off in a mumble.
Sapphira scrunches her nose at the gross imagery. “Okay, when do we leave?”
Isabel bends to pick up the drum she packed for the trip and slings it around her neck. “I think it would be best if I went alone. The Canitam are an extremely cautious species, and they will run if they sense anything off. I will be back in the morning.”
“No way,” Sapphira says, dropping her sword and pushing forward. “You aren’t going alone. It’s dangerous. Those things could tear you apart.”
“I’ll be fine. I can keep them calm, and I know how to mask my presence. You should stay here and finish the smoke bombs. I won’t take long, I promise. Do you trust me?” Isabel looks up at her, lip between her teeth and lashes fluttering against her cheeks.
Sapphira groans. “Of course I do.”
Isabel grabs her hand, rubbing her thumb over Sapphira’s. “Then I will be back in the morning.”
Sapphira grabs Isabel’s hand. “Can you at least tell me what the plan is? Why are the Canitam so important?”
Isabel squeezes her hand then lets go. “It’s better if you don’t know everything.”
Sapphira wants to argue but she knows she isn’t going to get any more than that. “Be safe.”