CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Ellery
“Are you ready to go?” Indon asked.
“I am.”
He knelt so I could clamber onto his back. We’d debated having them hold us while we flew, as riding their backs hindered their movements a little, but they’d need their hands, and there would be fewer of us to see if we rode their backs instead of dangling from their hands.
I slipped my arms around his neck and settled as far from his wings as I could, so I didn’t affect his flight. Pressing my cheek to his unbreakable, warm skin, I inhaled his mineral scent as the others climbed onto gargoyles too.
“Take care, Lery,” Farley said.
“Have fun killing the guards.”
“Oh, we will.”
Indon unfurled his wings and pushed off from the ground. Because of the fog, I couldn’t see the land as we swept across it, but I sensed the soldiers down there, waiting for something they didn’t know was already happening.
Despite their size and the breadth of their wingspan, the gargoyles moved with unnerving silence. The fog made it impossible to see the other gargoyles flying with us. It was disconcerting to move so fast through the wall of white surrounding us.
I hoped the gargoyles could sense the palace ahead so we wouldn’t crash into it. They must have some way of knowing when to stop. These creatures were a part of nature and were as entwined with Tempest as the amsirah.
In fact, they were probably more attuned to the realm than us. I’d been gifted with these incredible powers, but the trees in the Revenant Woods actually came to life for the gargoyles.
The first time they tore their roots from the ground to try dragging me under, I believed they were trying to kill Ryker and me. Now I understood they were trying to take us under, to show us the secrets they hid, and to help save the realm… or at least the gargoyles.
And they should have been saved. They should have been freed millennia before I did it. It was a mistake I was glad I’d righted.
When I felt like we’d been flying long enough to have reached the palace, I almost asked Indon if he could see, but I didn’t dare speak. The fog muffled sound, but I had no idea where we were anymore, and we would have to go low to find the dungeon.
The mist distorted everything. For all I knew, we could have been a hundred feet above ground or only five. As the wind picked up, some of the fog dispersed.
Using my powers, I produced more of the fog, thickening it around us again. The soldiers would realize it was an unnatural mist now that I wouldn’t let it disperse, but we had to be close to the palace, and I couldn’t let our cover clear.
They probably still assumed we were in the forest. Without the fog, they’d spot us and know where we were going.
When Indon banked to the left a little, I braced myself to smash into a rock wall. I was sure he’d snap his neck, and my bones would shatter on impact.
Then he was rising into an upright position. I clung tighter to his neck and my thighs locked against his hips as I slid backward a little.
When his feet touched the ground, I released my hold on him and dropped to the rocky soil. Indon folded his wings against his back as more gargoyles landed around us.
Down here, the fog was thicker and more difficult to see through. While I worked to keep us shrouded in the mist, the wind howled across the land.
Faint screams reached us. I suspected some of the guards had tried to enter the woods, but those screams could be coming from nearby and just be muffled from the fog.
Through the hazy mist, figures shifted on the field. I sensed their uneasiness growing. From what I could tell, they were all facing the woods, but it was impossible to be certain.
Ianto and Luna were amongst those closest to me. Scarlet and Mr. Fletcher were somewhere nearby too, but Ruby remained in the cavern with Billy.
I didn’t like not being able to see Scarlet and Mr. Fletcher, but hopefully, once we were out of this fog, I’d find them. I rested my hand against the cold, stone wall beside me as I carefully picked my way over the rocks.
I waved my free hand before me to clear the fog a little. As I did so, I spotted the opening to a cave only ten feet away.
A man from the encampment appeared at my side. He leaned down to whisper in my ear. “The dungeons are in there.”
When I nodded, he fell back to walk with the others. I had no idea what enemies awaited us inside that shadowed interior, but we were about to find out.
