Valek pushed up to his elbow. Pain ringed his chest, stealing his breath for a long moment. Cracked ribs. How could he forget? Another muffled scrape reached him. He wondered if it was Yelena or if the warpers had awakened from their drugged sleep. In no condition to fight and with no extra breath to yell, he remained in place. No need to alert the warpers that he still lived. And if it was Yelena…
He sighed. When she had jumped into the stable fire, his world had ended. Valek had spent a long time staring at his knife, working up the nerve to stab it into his heart.
If it was Yelena, it meant she hadn’t gone the into the fire world. That she’d be okay for a day or so. He’d catch up, he promised.
* * *
Just in case the warpers remained nearby, Valek and Gale waited until dark to move the beams. They crumbled into ash as soon as they touched them, raining down on top of their heads and setting off coughing fits. So much for a stealthy escape. Valek scrambled up from the cellar to defend them, but no one rushed him.
The night remained quiet. Valek shivered in the chilly air. Large burn holes peppered his pants. He smelled burnt hair. Touching his scalp gently, Valek discovered most of his hair had burned off. Lovely.
He called all clear, and Gale climbed up. Her clothing had also been burned and she hugged her chest.
“What now?” she asked.
“We need to find clothes, transportation, and then the location of the children and the Greenblade man. The Daviians think you’re all dead, so you’ll be safe with them.”
“No. I’m going with you to fight them.” She held up a hand, stopping his protests. “I know I don’t have much power, but I’ll do whatever I can to aid your efforts.”
He considered her offer. They would need every bit of help they could get. “Thank you.”
She waved a hand. “I haven’t done anything yet.”
“You saved our lives.”
“Huh. I guess I did.” Then she laughed. “Don’t tell my friends at the beauty parlor that I saved the Scourge of Sitia’s life. I’ll never be invited to another dinner party.” Gale tapped a finger on her lips. “Then again, I never really enjoyed them.”
Valek clamped down on a chuckle. The movement hurt his ribs too much. Then he began the arduous task of gathering what they’d need to track the others. It wouldn’t be easy, but he’d catch up to Yelena as quickly as possible.
* * *
As expected, nothing went well. Even after he found Onyx and Topaz, they encountered many obstacles. It ended up taking him and Gale seven days to catch up to Yelena and the others in Owl’s Hill, a town east of the Citadel. Except, they were no longer at the Cloverleaf Inn, which added another day. The burns on his skin had healed, but his ribs still ached and protested at every bump in the road.
Finally, he spotted Yelena and his friends near a caravan. They discussed plans. He had hoped that when he died, they’d be able to carry on without him, and it sounded like they already had. Offended at the speed of their recovery, he huffed. Instead of rushing to join them, he stayed in the shadows, listening to them.
“When the riot starts, all the magicians will come to the Keep’s gate and help you build and maintain a null shield,” Yelena said.
“But it won’t last long,” Leif said.
“I just need a little time.”
“Time for what?”
“To get to the Fire Warper.”
A pause. “You can fight him?” Leif asked.
“No.”
“Tell me again why this isn’t a suicide mission,” Leif said.
Yes, love. Tell us.
“I think I can stop him and keep him in the fire world. And in doing so, I think I might be able to pull some of the warpers’ powers from them. If Bain and Irys are still alive, and if you round up as many magicians as you can, then you should be able to counter the warpers.”
“That’s a lot of ‘ifs’ and ‘thinks,’” Janco said.
“And there’s no ‘when,’” Ari said.
