Chapter 17 #3
I looked, and there he was, hidden in the trees, waving. As if on cue, the guards at the gate switched out to some smaller demons.
“Now, Bargoth,” my mother whispered.
Shouts came from the far side of the field. One guard went to check it out. He turned to face the other. “Bandits!”
The other guard shouted into the compound, and a second later, twenty demons with weapons poured out. That was more than the mere ten that Bargoth had with him. “They’re outnumbered,” I muttered.
“He’ll be fine. Bargoth knows how to keep them there without engaging.” But still, Mother twisted her hands. Her jaw clenched with determination, and she motioned to the others. “Let’s go,” she mouthed.
We hurried across the open ground and slid in through the wide side door. Despite the new urgency of the task, I couldn’t get Erlinen’s words out of my mind. I grit my teeth. I was getting Gerand back and then I’d figure out what to do with Vaelor.
As soon as we went through the door into the outdoor compound, we split up into groups of two. Mother and I headed off toward the structures beyond the barn. They were long buildings made of wood, and the roofs were cracked, no doubt leaking in several places as if nobody had time for repairs.
As we rounded the corner, a demon shouted, “Hey, what are you doing here?” We froze, and Mother shoved me behind her. Then I realized a pair of guards had discovered two of our comrades a few paces away. They hadn't seen us… yet.
“Oh, we are new servants here.” Two of our friends bowed their heads. If the guards looked over their shoulder, they’d see us as well. Mother gave me a small push, and we crept backward.
“You must come with us,” one guard said, gripping the pommel of his sword.
Our friends protested as the guards dragged them away.
Shit. They were caught. I swallowed, but my throat stayed stubbornly dry. Any second we’d be seen and everything would be for nothing. I’d have failed Gerand again.
Mother grabbed my arm and tugged me around the corner and through the closest open doorway.
It was full of empty beds.
“Damn it,” Mother muttered. She pulled the necklace from her pocket and began chanting.
“Vaelor said that if you do that, you’ll pull the demons to us,” I mentioned nervously.
“We are out of time, Denara. I left my son once. I’m not leaving him again. Now keep a lookout.”
Determination hardened her features, though it couldn't quite mask the pain in her eyes. She would do whatever it took to find Gerand, no matter the danger. In that moment, the years of resentment I had carried seemed insignificant beside the fierce devotion driving her forward.
She continued to chant, and I moved to the door, pressing my ear to it, hoping to hear any approaching demon before they came.
The necklace floated in the air and glided toward the door. Mother rose, her eyes gleaming. “Quickly, Denara.”
I opened the door, and the necklace drifted outside, and Mother raced after it.
I hurried after her as we cut around the old wooden buildings and in the direction of the large brick barn.
We ignored everyone and everything and dashed forward until we came to a fenced enclosure, and the necklace fell at the feet of a boy who was dumping slop into a pigsty.
We both stopped and stared as the boy looked up and blanched.
Tears filled my eyes. Gerand. His skin was dirty, and his clothes too raggedy, and his body was thin, like he hadn’t gotten enough food. His mess of hair curled around his ears, long and unruly. But he was here . Alive.
“Denara?” he said in awe.
“Oh, my boy, my boy.” Mother threw her arms around him.
Confusion laced Gerand’s face, his brows shooting upward. “M-ma?”
I shook myself—the moment too surreal. So long I’d worried and fought to get to him, and here he was. My hands balled. I’d die before I lost him again.
“We must hurry.” I wiped at my watering eyes. “We have an escape route.”
“Escape?” he repeated as he looked between me and Mother in a daze.
“We’re freeing you,” I said gently, hoping to lessen his shock.
“Yes.” Mother gripped his hand. “Hurry.”
It took him another moment, but then he set down the bucket and hurried after us.
We passed through the narrow passageways between the buildings, heading back the way we had come.
We rounded a corner straight into three demons.
They were tall, with deer heads and long antlers—like Bargoth.
They stalked toward us on their hooved feet.
It was apparent even with Vaelor and the bandits that not all the demons had left the compound.
“This is the one. The one that smells like magic,” said one guard.
Another guard wore a metal breastplate and a helmet that accommodated his horns, where the first two simply had swords belted at their waists.
“Take these three to the master,” the helmeted demon said to the other two. “We need to find out what is going on here.”
Gerand whimpered, and Mother and I exchanged looks of dread as they gripped us and redirected us to the front of the compound.
I didn’t know what awaited us, but I was sure it wasn’t good.