Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Dardanus isn’t as far from Thebe as Thebe was from Sardis, but our current trip is still long, and we didn’t head out until midday. So, we still need to make camp tonight.
As I had predicted, the wind is harsh here.
Actually, “harsh” doesn’t even come close to describing it.
Ever been in line for a rollercoaster that has a warning sign about every five paces about how you shouldn’t get on it if you have any health problems at all?
You think the signs are there to warn off your grandma with the heart condition, but as you come down from the very first peak, you wonder if you have unknown health problems. For a solid second, you wonder if you might die.
Well, the wind is like that, but I’m not wearing a seat belt.
When I exit the carriage, my cloak is useless—an impediment, really—because now it’s not covering me but catching the breeze and dragging me away with the gust. I don’t dare take it off, though, because I’m sure I’ll lose it for good, and the crunch of frozen grass beneath my feet reminds me that much more than icy gusts are on their way.
Fortunately, Guy grabs me by the arm and flings me around to the side of the carriage so that we’re blocked from the frigid wind. “Let the folks with the high strength stats take care of setting up camp,” he says.
I shake my head. “And then what? Our tents will fly off, too.”
Guy laughs. “A magical camp that floats along in the ether until we call on it isn’t so easily controlled by the weather. How do you think it stayed warm inside the tent last night?”
“Body heat?” I suggest with a shrug.
Guy says something, but I can’t hear him because a gale howls so loudly that I have to slap my hands over my ears. When it dies down enough to for my mind to clear, I say, “Any chance your silencing spell can get rid of the sound of wind?”
“I’ll do you one better. There’s a silencing dome that can help everyone.”
Like a hare-brained idiot, Guy rushes around to the other side of the carriage where I can’t see him. “Guy!” I call out. “What are you doing?” But it’s useless. The wind carries my voice away.
Suddenly, the loud gusting chorus is gone, which is weird because the wind is just as strong as ever. Guy staggers to my side of the carriage. He’s holding on to the carriage with an iron grip but still looks likely to fall. So I grab him and yank him to me.
“Thanks for the help. That spell took a lot of my energy,” he says, his hand clasped to his gasping chest.
“Why did you have to leave me to do it?”
“I wanted to get to the center of our group so that everyone would fit under the dome.”
There’s Guy, being the most considerate person I’ve ever met again.
Cait comes over to us, red in the face, looking like she might murder someone. “What did you do?” she asks Guy.
“I cast a silencing—”
“You idiot!” she shouts. “We can’t hear anything Dolius and Cyrus are saying! They’re freaking out!”
“I’ll go explain to—” Guy starts.
But Cait’s not done ranting. “And now you’ve made it super easy for anyone to sneak up on us and attack during this obviously magical windstorm!” She growls in frustration, and I know I need to intervene before she reduces poor Guy to a blubbering mess.
I get between the pair and hold up my hands in surrender, keeping my steady gaze on Cait’s. “He was just trying to be helpful. He probably didn’t realize it would cause issues because it’s hard to think with all this wind.”
Cait presses her eyebrows together and swallows. I almost breathe a sigh of relief, thinking I’ve diffused the situation, but then she narrows her eyes at me and says, “He isn’t thinking because you’ve clouded his head with lust.”
Stunned, I can’t say anything, only gawk at her, my mouth agape.
“I’m going to set up our tent and help the merchants set up theirs,” she says, then gives Guy a pointed look. “The silencing spell better be down by the time those are up.”
She storms off. Despite her svelte frame, she strides through the strong gale as if it’s nothing but a playful breeze.
I turn to Guy, seeing my confusion mirrored in his scrunched features.
“What was that about?” he asks.
“You tell me,” I say. “She was your hot-headed friend first.”
“Yeah, but not like that,” he says, shaking his head. “She’s never taken anything so personally. Why should she care about whether I—Oh…”
“What?”
Guy blushes and scratches at the nape of his neck. “She’s been weird with me ever since she realized I had genuine feelings for you. I think she’s jealous.”
“Of me?”
“Well, I mean, there was a minute before you came along when she was kind of…well, flirting with me.”
“Guy, she’s told me herself that she doesn’t believe in people messing around in this group,” I explain. “She thinks it can lead to drama.”
“She asked if I would be fine with a relationship with her, but I was scared of ruining our friendship.”
I’m so astonished that it takes a beat before I realize my eyelashes are fluttering wildly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Guy has the intelligence to at least look sheepish, with his eyes lowered and his mouth in an awkward grimace. “I didn’t think it was that important. She and I never got anywhere because you entered the picture.”
“Did you want to have a relationship with her?” I ask.
Guy says nothing.
“So, you were considering dating someone who probably doesn’t believe in sex before marriage,” I say and then mutter more to myself than to him, “No wonder you’re cool with taking things slow.”
“Hey, now, I actually care about you,” he says.
“Why? We hardly know each other!” I shout.
At that moment, Sylvia peeks around the corner and greets us with an embarrassed smile and an awkward wave. “Hi, so because of Guy’s silencing spell, there’s no noise to muffle your discussion.”
“Fuck my life,” I say, closing my eyes as I plant my face onto my palm.
“So, like, maybe fight after the spell is over?” Sylvia’s plea lifts at the end like she’s asking a question instead of making a request. “I don’t think any of us want to know more about Guy’s romantic life. Cait can’t even look anybody in the eyes.”
“Sorry,” Guy whispers to Sylvia.
“Tent’s up!” Cait calls out and then continues, “Also, I’m not jealous of Lauren! I got over you, Guy!”
Guy sighs, and I lift my face in time to see him raise his staff.
Suddenly, the wind is back to keening. I don’t mind it as much now.
I’d rather listen to that than Guy’s excuses as to why he didn’t tell me about his history with Cait.
It doesn’t matter that they had a thing.
It’s not like I was single all that long before we met, but he should have been open with me.
Guy approaches me, his eyes apologetic and his hand outstretched like he wants to touch my cheek. I lift my palm and shake my head to stop him. “We’ll talk later,” I say.
I move to walk away, but then I hear something that chills me even more than the bitter weather. I’m not sure how I picked up on it. The wind is bellowing, and this is subtle—a faint rattle and hiss.
Not daring to make a sound, to even breathe, I mouth to Guy, “Do you hear that?”
Guy responds with a slow nod. He already has his staff out, and now he shifts to a defensive stance, though he’s clearly shaking from exhaustion since he cast and uncast a powerful spell. I also get into my stance. Whatever this is, I hope I can charm it or something.
I look around wildly, trying to match a shape to a sound. I suspect a snake, maybe multiple snakes, but when I finally spot the source, I know we’re much more fucked than that.
Beyond the brush a hundred yards away, I see her.
She’s gorgeous, with the face and tits of a porn mag’s centerfold.
That’s not enough to distract me from the fact that she has dragon wings on her back and a long serpent’s tail where her legs should be.
My Jurassic Park-inspired hope that staying still and silent will keep us off her radar is dashed when she snaps her startling blue eyes on me.
“Guy,” I say, edging closer to him as I back away from the monster, “is that the empusa you were telling me about?”
Guy shakes his head. “No, the empusa looks a lot more human. Th-this…” Guy gulps. “This is a dracaenae. A descendant of Echidna, the original dracaenae, the mother of all monsters.”
“Son of a Titfucking Asshole,” I mutter under my breath.
I wonder if the rest of the party is aware.
She’s on our side of the carriage, and I’m pretty sure everyone is trying to ignore us because of our rather embarrassing argument.
If they don’t know, we have to warn them somehow.
But I’m afraid to take my eyes off her. She’s got me locked in a hypnotic stare, and that may be the only thing keeping her from racing over and sinking her now-evident fangs into my flesh.
Guy is too weak to fight her, and all I can do is defend myself. We need help now.
“Go,” I tell Guy. “Warn the others. I’ll stay here.”
“Lauren, I can’t—”
“Go!” I command.
Guy stands there for the briefest moment, then dashes to the other side of the carriage. The dracaenae’s intense stare flickers in his direction but returns to me, this time with a wicked smirk. He’s left me alone. I’m now an easier morsel to pluck off the buffet table.
Fuck. Did I just make a huge mistake?
The dracaenae speeds toward me, fangs fully exposed and taloned hands outstretched.
There’s no charming or negotiating my way out of this situation.
I probably just used my Strategy Under Duress skill to send Guy over to warn the others.
There’s nothing to protect me other than a staff, and that might as well be a fly swatter in this situation.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I shout.
I try to run, but as soon as I turn the corner, the wind actually pushes me toward her. Her fangs are so close now that I smell her last meal. I squeeze my eyes tight, hoping that’ll relieve me of at least a portion of my impending death’s horror.