The sound of voices reached me.
I jumped, straining to decipher their words. Were they looters? Dragons in human form? An ill-fated pilgrimage up the mountain?They’d better not get too close to the cavern’s entrance.Or they risked waking the manticores. Unless the beasts weren’t quite as feral as I’d assumed? Perhaps their wrangler was about to return to feed them again. I glanced at the pile of bones and the suspiciously human-looking skull.One thing’s for certain—I don’t want to become their next meal.The voices drifted closer, close enough I could make out a few snippets of conversation.
“Thiscannotbe the way home,” said a female voice. “If it’s notabovethe mountain, it’s certainly notwithinthe mountain.”
That was odd.Surely no one would mistake the top of a mountain for their way home…
“I really feel like we should have turned the other direction back there. Everyone else agrees.”
A male voice chimed in. “Have I ever failed to navigate us home before?”
I frowned as a jolt of recognition ran through me when he spoke. But that just wasn’t possible. Not atop a mountain. Not when it was my first time visiting the Kingdom of Uvrakar. Even if I did find the man’s deep baritone oddly soothing.
The stranger continued, growing increasingly argumentative. “Iknowit doesn’t make sense, but I’m telling you—the kingdom must be around here. Every fiber of my being is telling me this is the right direction. I think we should take a break here, and then resume our search in the area.”
I inched forward another few steps. A second female voice became audible. “Maybe it’s because you don’t have your cloak?”My eyes flickered to the sleeping manticores and back to the cave entrance.Please, please stop talking!If they didn’t leave soon, they were going to wake the manticores. And who knowswhatwould happen then. Paralysis, followed by death, according to Nix. Despite my silent plea, a second male voice echoed throughout the cavern. “Is this because Kygraw got mad at you? We’ll find a replacement Roc feather eventually. They don’t live in caves though.”Wait—hadn’t I heard that name before?
Soon, I could hear the crunch of approaching footsteps. Too loud. Nix tensed his small body, claws extending. Frantically, I peeled away from the wall as the strangers materialized at the mouth of the cave. In desperation, I brought my finger to my lips, trying to shush their conversation before it was too late, waving wildly at the manticores to draw their attention to the threat. They took another step, fully entering the cavern, before they saw me.
All at once, I realized why I recognized the man’s voice.
“Elvira?!” Corvin exclaimed, his eyes going wide. “What are you doing here?”
A manticore cracked its golden eyes slowly open.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Corvin,run!” I screamed as the manticore awakened, rising to its feet. With a thunderous roar that showcased a terrifyingly sharp row of teeth, the manticore drowned out his response. Its golden gaze swept the cavern with predatory intent. It didn’t take a hunter’s instinct to guess who it would choose as its first target. It was me—I was the closest prey.
Before I could truly fear for my life, the manticore struck, lunging at me with its claws extended, crushing me tight within its talons, despite my futile attempt to dive out of its way. Nix yowled ferociously as the manticore’s attack knocked him from my shoulders. Terror pulsed in my veins as the manticore flew me higher, higher, and higher still—right up to the jagged stalactites dangling from the cavern’s ceiling. Below us, I could see the other manticores awaken, provoked into a feeding frenzy. The manticore circled high above the other members of its pack as they snarled and snapped their jaws below.
Then, it dropped me.
“I got her!” somebody shouted the moment the manticore opened its talons. Then I was hurtling down, down, down, the ground rushing up to meet me. Paralyzing fear finally took a hold of my body. For an agonizing moment, I stared death in the face. Time became a whirlwind, moving fast and slow all at once. I tried to feel the thrum of the moon’s power, to call forth its silvery light, but terror prevented me from thinking straight.
Everything blurred into color and motion: my long black braid whipping my face, the manticore’s yellowish-white fangsflashing below, the flapping of bluish-gray wings, a set of hands reaching out for me—
A whimper escaped as the world abruptly stopped spinning.
I found myself at the cavern’s edge, cradled in the arms of a strange man, his hand supporting my neck. He grinned down at me. “Hello, I’m Tercel.” I stared blankly back at him, still in a daze. I wanted to thank him for saving my life, but what came out instead was, “Those aren’t raven wings,” like the bluish-gray wings at his back were a personal affront. He had light brown skin, a thick black beard, and hair long enough to tie into a knot at the top of his head.
The man just laughed, his grin turning devilish, as he took us back toward freedom. “You’ve seen Corvin’s wings? Not all Zrocan shift into ravens. Some of us are built for speed. These are falcon wings.” His voice turned mischievous. “It looked like you needed a professional. Now let’s get out of here—”
The cavern exploded into a flurry of wings and claws as every single one of the manticores took flight.
“For Stormcloud’s sake!” Tercel swore loudly as we hovered much too close to the dangerous beasts. I could hear panicked shouting coming from somewhere near the entrance. My brain tried to make sense of the scene before us—five large manticores chaotically circling the central chamber, the occasional bright streak of lightning arcing between them as they worked themselves into another frenzy. How long until they attacked? Frantically, my gaze sought a path through the chaos. A gap, wide enough to let us through. Any means forward, to reach the cavern’s entrance unscathed.
Except, there wasn’t one.
Tercel must have come to the same bleak conclusion because he swore again, indecision written on his face, like he was unsure where to fly next. In the end, the manticore made the decision for us. A blinding flash of lightning zigzagged in our direction.“Look out!” I shouted as Tercel jerked us to the left, narrowly avoiding the bolt of lightning. A plume of dust obscured our vision as the bolt made contact with a stalactite instead, showering us in crumbling rock debris. Tercel gasped as a large chunk of rock glanced off his shoulder.
The dust cleared, uncovering a manticore barreling straight at us, barbed stinger posed to strike.
Tercel started to turn his body. He was going to shield me. Shift our positions. I didn’t want that, didn’t want him to be harmed protecting me. There was nothing else to do—when the manticore flew close enough, I leapt from Tercel’s arms.
He let out a surprised grunt as I pushed off against his chest. Then I heard nothing except the wind roaring past my ears as I fell, my arms desperately reaching out for the manticore below, its broad back my only landing surface. It was that or the cavern floor, and I knew I wouldn’t survive the latter option.
As soon as I smacked into the manticore’s body, I scrambled and clawed and scraped my way forward, burying my hands into its thick, coarse mane. The manticore bellowed in outrage—an ear-splitting promise of retribution.
