5. Ava #2
She frowned but glanced to the north. She couldn’t see anything beyond the trees towering around their little clearing. Then she turned toward the south, toward Eroth.
Toward home.
She didn’t want to go farther north, farther from Peregrin and the safety that must surely lie behind them. But she couldn’t abandon the dragon, could she? As badly as she was injured, the beast wouldn’t be able to defend herself.
And Ava didn’t stand a chance of finding her way home on her own.
“Do you think she can walk that far?” She hated how her voice trembled.
She didn’t have a choice. As loath as she was to admit it, she needed Jerrid in order to survive. And they needed her.
“No.” His tone was equally low, and he lifted his head to peer into her face. “But we can’t just leave her here.”
Ava drew a stabilizing breath and considered their options. “Well, I doubt I’d be able to find the ruins you saw by myself. And I’m not sure if you would know what supplies to look for. We’re going to need needles, thread, bandages, and salves to ward off infection. Do you know much about plants?”
He shook his head.
Of course not. Even if he did, he’d be familiar with the fauna of Haldor, not Gelaira. Finding anything salvageable in the Shadewood would be almost impossible as it was. Everything was sick and dying.
They’d only been able to find the nightblood flowers that Persis needed because she’d used her sand magic to reawaken the forest.
“We’ll have to leave her here,” Ava said at last, not liking the idea of leaving the poor creature unprotected but knowing she’d be useless to defend herself against threats anyway. “You and I will need to find food and supplies and then come back for her.”
A muscle twitched in her cheek, and he leaned around the dragon’s head, brushing his fingers along her quivering jaw.
“I’m sorry, old girl.”
Ava steeled her heart against the gentleness in his tone, in his touch. He was dangerous, and she couldn’t trust him. She needed to remember that.
“We’ll come back as quickly as we can.” He patted her cheek again before straightening. “I’m going to get dressed, and then let’s move her over there by that hawthorn and try to cover her in branches to keep her camouflaged until we get back.”
While he changed behind the dragon, she walked over to the place he had indicated, careful to keep her back to him. A few minutes later, he joined her, dressed once again in the brown and crimson leathers of Haldor. He handed her the cloak without a word.
She hesitated only briefly before slinging it around her shoulders and securing the clasp at her throat.
It smelled like him, like leather and musk and the spicy, metallic scent of dragon.
Ava helped him pull down small branches and pile them over the dragon’s form like a blanket. They couldn’t find enough branches to do the job properly—most of them were too thick to break without a blade to cut through the wood, but they did the best they could.
“Do you have any food and water in your pack?” Ava asked when they finally finished.
Jerrid grunted and picked up the thick leather satchel he’d removed from the saddle and left sitting off to the side. He removed a waterskin and an oilskin package. She accepted the waterskin and drank eagerly, her cracked lips and parched throat desperate for relief.
“Thank you,” she said, forcing herself to hand him the waterskin long before she was satisfied since she didn’t know how long they needed to make that last.
He said nothing but handed her a chunk of jerky. She took it and tore off a mouthful, too hungry to ask what it was. Most likely it was deer or mountain goat. Perhaps bear.
She wasn’t entirely sure what sorts of animals lived in the mountains.
Once they both finished and relieved themselves behind the trees and bushes, Jerrid bade farewell to his dragon, and they left. At the edge of the clearing, he looked over his shoulder one last time, his eyes dark and expression grim.
His gaze flickered from the dragon’s hiding space to Ava and lingered for a couple of slow breaths before he spun and plunged into the forest.
Echo was on her own now.
Ava did her best to match her pace to Jerrid’s, but his long strides made it hard for her to keep up. She pressed a hand to her side, her body sore from all the recent abuse.
She’d been on the run in the Shadewood for several days now. She couldn’t even remember how many days it had been since they left Eroth on their quest to find nightblood to heal Prince Haryk.
“How long do you think it will take us?” she asked as she clambered over a fallen log.
He tilted his face toward the sky before responding. “Not sure. Depends on the terrain. On straight ground, it shouldn’t take more than half an hour. But here in the forest…could take two to three times that.”
She sighed inwardly, wishing she could just curl up on the ground and rest. While Jerrid had enjoyed a nice dragon nap, she’d been too afraid to fall asleep as she sat beneath the tree watching him like a hawk, listening to the creaking of the forest and the moaning of the wind.
They walked for another half hour in complete silence. They reached a small ravine. While shallow, the incline was jagged and steep. He jumped down and then reached back to help her. She hesitated briefly before taking his hand. His fingers closed over hers as she stepped off the edge.
Her feet wobbled when she landed in the thick covering of leaves. He caught her elbow in his other hand to steady her. Heat warmed her cheeks, but she muttered a “thank you” and pulled away.
An eerie moan echoed down the ravine, raising the hairs on the back of her neck. Jerrid grabbed her elbow again as he moved to step in front of her. He placed himself between her and the sound, one arm outstretched to keep her behind him.
Silence descended on the Shadewood. Even the crickets and birds became quiet. Ava held her breath, straining her ears to listen. As the seconds ticked by, she began to wonder if she’d imagined it.
Then another haunting moan echoed between the trees.
A shiver worked down her spine: no, she definitely hadn’t imagined that.