She felt the ship rock, its wooden frame creaking beneath a massive weight, and the little bit of lamplight trickling into this room disappeared. As if a great shadow blocked it out.
She heard the sound of bodies being hurled through the air. Of men and women screaming as they were sent overboard and into the sea.
And then, drowning it all out, came a ferocious roar.
The sound sent chills through everyone in the hold—everyone except for Safire. She knew that sound. It made hope spark within her.
“It’s not a sea monster,” she realized. “It’s a dragon.”
This did nothing to calm the panic.
Suddenly, the hatch clicked from the other side. The room hushed as it swung open and the rain gushed in. With it came the light from a lantern.
“Found you.”
Safire looked up into her cousin’s scarred face. Asha’s dark hair was a damp, windblown mess and her eyes were fierceas they scanned Safire first, then the crowd of captives below her. Behind Asha, one big yellow eye came into view as Kozu looked down into the hatch, fixing on the people huddled there. Several of them stepped back. The girl with the broom stood staring though, awed by the sight of the First Dragon, his scales slick with rain.
“It’s all right,” said Safire. “They’re here to help.”
Beyond Kozu, the sky was dark with storm clouds as Spark flew in lazy loops around the ship’s ocher sails.
Asha grabbed Safire’s arm and pulled her onto the deck, then wrapped her in a tight hug. Her clothes were soaked through.
“How did you find me?” Safire whispered into her shoulder.
Asha let go, then turned toward the young man at the helm. Torwin gripped the wheel looking like he had no idea what he was doing.
Beside him gleamed a white dragon with a broken horn.
“It was Sorrow,” Asha explained. “Torwin was on his way to Firgaard when Sorrow suddenly turned back. There was nothing Torwin could do to sway him. Sorrow found us in the air and started flying in circles, clicking furiously at Kozu and Spark. When he headed out to sea, they followed him. He led us straight to you.”
Safire frowned, glancing up into Sorrow’s black eyes, which were now peering curiously at the captives huddled in the shadows.
“You’re linked,” said Asha. “It’s the only way he could have known where you were.”
“But wouldn’t I feel it?” Safire watched the white dragonhop down from the upper deck and cautiously make his way to where the captives were climbing out of the hatch.
“He might not bond like other dragons,” said Asha, watching, too. “Maybe you’ll never sense it. Or maybe it’s the kind of link that grows stronger over time.” Suddenly, she turned away from Sorrow. “I take it things didn’t go well at the citadel. Where’s Roa?”
“Leandra has her.”
Safire’s conversation with the empress came flooding back. She thought of the hood coming down. Of Leandra’s last words.
I’ll watch the daughter of my enemy die a slow and agonizing death.
“She has Eris, too. She’s going to kill her, Asha. I need to find her. She said she was taking her somewhere called the immortal scarps?”
Asha’s gaze snapped to Safire’s face. “The immortal scarps... According to the stories, the Shadow God turned Skye into Skyweaver at the bottom of the immortal scarps. They’re the highest point in the Star Isles. Atop the red-clay cliffs on the northern side of Axis Isle. But I doubt a ship will get to them in time.” She looked up at Kozu’s massive black form coiled on the deck. “A dragon, on the other hand...”
“Asha!” Torwin called through the wind and rain. “Trouble’s headed our way.”
They all turned to find Torwin frowning into the distance.
A boom of thunder made them all flinch. Safire joined Torwin as lightning flickered across the sky, illuminating the silhouette of another ship sailing rapidly toward them. When lightning flashed again, Safire saw a man at its helm. Thelantern in his hand illuminated a scar over his right eye.
“Jemsin,” Safire scowled.
As if hearing his name, the pirate captain looked directly at her. Their eyes met across the water.
