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Another tentacle shot out of the water beside Eddace’s flagship. Up and up it soared, until it reached the crow’s nest. Delicately, with precision, it gripped the nest—and the man inside—and snapped it off the mast.
“Friend of yours?” Numair asked. His voice was very quiet, but she could hear him perfectly. No one at the castle was making a sound.
“Not exactly,” she whispered. “I guess he moves faster than I thought.”
A third tentacle crawled over the rim of the last barge, the one the dragon had knocked off-balance. It snaked all the way across the bed, gripped the opposite rim, and flipped the entire thing over.
Daine gulped. “Oh, dear—I think he’s going to be nasty.”
“How big did you say it was?” George had come to stand with them, his face white under its tan.
“I didn’t,” she replied.
Tentacles sprang up around the fleet like a forest of snakes, hemming it in. More tentacles groped into the boats, to begin a systematic destruction.
Numair straightened, blinking. “The dampening spells are breaking up.”
Thayet had run to the opposite side of the deck, the part that looked out over the rest of the castle. “Listen!” she yelled.
Horn calls split the air. From the woods to the east came a company of the King’s Own and the rest of the Swoop’s guards, the Lioness at their head. From the northern woods came another company of the King’s Own. They fell on the raiders outside the wall, as the Stormwings converged on that battle.
Onua, Thayet, and George raced down the stairs to reach the curtain wall, where they’d have a better view. Numair sagged to the floor of the deck. “I’m all used up,” he told Daine, smiling at her. His eyes fluttered shut.
“Rest quick,” she told him. “You and Lady Alanna are going to have to get rid of Himself, out there.”
He fluttered his hand at her—of course, of course—and let it fall. Within seconds he was out cold.
To her surprise, she heard the sound of hooves on stone. Cloud emerged from the stair, her withers streaked with sweat. I have been looking all over for you, the pony told her crossly, coming to sniff Daine from top to toe. First they tell me you got sick, then they tell me you went down to the ocean, then—uh-oh.
Daine looked up. Zhaneh Bitterclaws had returned.
“I suppose you think very well of yourself, girlie. I suppose you think you did something wonderful, calling up that greedy-guts.” She jerked her head in the direction of the kraken, who continued his breakfast of ships.
The girl shook with fury. She hadn’t taken her arrow off the string, but it would do no good. Even supposing she could aim her bow, she had lost the strength to draw it. Numair wasn’t the only one to be all used up.
The Stormwing queen knew it too. She fluttered closer. “You’re mine,” she said with a grin. “I’ll be on you before you make the stair. And maybe I’ll cut up your long friend here too, before I go. You think about that a moment—it’ll be your fault that he dies.”
“Liar,” Daine spat. “Folk like you always lay the blame on somebody else. If I’d listened to talk like that, I’d’ve let myself get killed by my own people months ago.”
“They should have killed you, girlie.” The Stormwing drew in closer yet. “You call me a monster—what are you? My gods made me. You’re just a freak. All you do is get your friends killed, like that poor dragon. They’d be better off if you just threw yourself off the cliff right now.”
Cloud leaned against Daine’s thigh. Suddenly the girl was filled with energy; she was as fresh and strong as if she’d had a full night’s sleep. Lightning fast, she swung her bow up and loosed.
The arrow went clean through Zhaneh Bitterclaws’ neck as the creature gave voice to a choked scream. She dropped, trying to claw the arrow out of her flesh, until her body smashed to the rocks below. As she tumbled end over end to the sea, her own wing feathers cut her to pieces.
Daine and Cloud stuck their heads over the low wall, watching the Stormwing die in silence. Finally the girl straightened. Her newfound strength was gone. “Is she right?” Daine asked her pony.
She isn’t, Cloud said firmly. Your friends all make their own choices to live or die for you. I’ve yet to see you force death on a friend.
Carefully, muscles aching, Daine unstrung her bow and coiled the string, tucking it into her pocket. “Did I know you could do that?” she asked. “Give me strength like you did?”
Of course not, was the pony’s smug reply. We People don’t have to give you all our secrets.
“Now she tells me.” Daine sat with Numair and curled up against him. “Wake me in time for supper,” she told Cloud tiredly.
Of course, the mare said, knowing her human was already asleep. There was a blanket where Numair had been sitting when the dragon returned Daine to the castle. Cloud dragged it over, covering the man and the girl. She assumed a guard stance near the two of them and waited for the rest of the fighting to end.
EPILOGUE
Her dreams were filled with the vision, the one the dragon had given her of a hole in the cliff. At first, the silvery light from the cave had been strong, almost enough to read by. As she dreamed the same thing, over and over, the light dimmed. Just before she awoke, it was almost gone.
“How long?” Her voice emerged in a whispering croak. Her throat was so dry she began to cough.
Numair hauled her into a sitting position and put a canteen to her lips. “Drink!”
Daine gasped, swallowed a mouthful of liquid, gasped again, and drank some more. Finally she drained the canteen. “How long?” she asked again.
“The rest of the day the kraken arrived, then yesterday and today.” He gave her a cake, sweet with honey and filled with raisins and nuts.
Daine ate it and took another. “I have to go out.”
“Don’t be silly,” he told her. “You’re weak. You’re staying here.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” she replied. She swung her feet off the bed and stood. For a moment the room spun, then settled into place.
She was in the stable. They had placed her cot in an empty stall, where the ponies could watch her. Her bat friends hung in the rafters overhead, where the loft ended, leaving plenty of room for the one-eyed osprey to perch. None of the animals were pleased when Daine started to pull on her clothes. Cloud in particular glared at her over the partition.
Remembering something, she froze. “My friends—the woods creatures—”
“Some were killed,” Numair said gently. “Once the enemy was driven off, we found the injured ones. They’ve been cared for. There weren’t as many casualties as you’d think. You gave them the right advice.”
“Good,” she said, a weight off her mind. She went on dressing.
“You need to rest and eat. I’m still weak on my pins myself.”
“There’s something I have to take care of,” Daine said. “Now.” She stuffed her feet into her boots.
Her friend sighed. “Then wait a moment. We need an armed escort. There may still be enemies out there. And let’s get horses. Where are we going?”
She closed her eyes and recalled the vision. “Northwest,” she said finally. “Along the cliff. We have to hurry.”
He smiled at her. “Then we’ll hurry.”
She couldn’t even manage Cloud’s tack. Soon after the mage had left, Miri raced in. “Master Numair says you need someone to help you saddle up.” She gave Cloud a wary look. “You behave,” she told the mare, “or Wave-walker help me, I’ll singe your tail.”
Cloud stood meekly and did as she was told.
Daine was glad to sit on her cot and watch. “What time is it?”
“Afternoon,” the older girl said. “You beat Master Numair by half a day. He got up this morning.”
“He looks a lot better.” She gasped. “I forgot—the kraken!”
Miri grinned. “Don’t worry about that one,” she said, tightening cinches. “Once Master Numair was up,
him and Lady Alanna had a talk with that old ship killer. You should have seen him scuttle out of the cove! He sucked the water after him and left the bottom dry. The Lioness had to pull it back in!” She patted Cloud’s withers. “There you are—all set.
Daine rose and took the reins. “You’ve come a long way since we met.”
Miri grinned shyly. “Thanks. It means a lot to hear you say so.”
