She glares at me, noticing I’m not following.
“It’s an alloy,” the snarky edge in her voice returns. “It’s pulled from a rare metal in these mountains. Tough as hell—you need dragon-fire just to melt it down. It messes with our Threads, blocks them, scrambles them, and the longer you’rearound it the worse it gets.” Her chin jerks toward the stream of people moving alongside us. “That’s why we can’t mine it ourselves. Has to be Outerlanders with no magic.”
“So... that's what the cage is made from?” I push, stepping over a rut in the dirt.
“Stars no. It’s mostly scrap. Draconite’s rare, but it packs a punch. You only need a sliver.”
“And that's how they keep the dragon captive?”
“Who, Dave?” Reya huffs a laugh, shaking her head. “He’s not captive. He’s there for the sausages—you saw the size of him, right? Dragons love this shit, the shows are like playtime for them. Plus, every now and then, someone traps a Citadel officer who’s wandered too close... then they get an actual person to actually burn.”
I slow half a step without meaning to. “Outerlanders are trapping officers?”
“Yeah, they lay traps made with traces of draconite in the mountains around here. We also use it for our jail cells and handcuffs. Hence why I keep the relationship with that slimy guard.”
As we hit the lake, we take a left, heading back to the camp when a girl from the settlement about our age cuts across our path. She doesn’t slow, doesn’t look at me, she goes straight for Reya, shoving something small into her hands.
Reya stops dead. “Here?” she hisses through clenched teeth. “You’re fucking doing thishere?"
Before I get the chance to see what it is, Reya moves first, grabbing the girl’s arm and hauling her off the path, turning her toward the waterfront with their backs to me so I can’t see between them.
I try to listen, but they keep their voices low, words slipping past me before I can catch them. All I get is the tension underneath. So I angle away, turning my attention elsewhere. Ialready seem to be on Reya’s bad side—no need to make it worse by eavesdropping on something she clearly doesn't want me to hear.
A light breeze greets me as I angle away, carrying a faint mist from the distant waterfalls. It brushes my skin, cooling me and taking the edge off the early afternoon heat, and I follow it to where the water falls in long, steady streams down the side of the mountain. The wind catches the spray and pulls it sideways into thin sheets, away from the settlement we just left nestled at their base.
God, if Ashvale knew what they knew. About dragons, about draconite, could they have stopped the attack? Would it still be there? Would I still be there?
A dull ache digs under my ribs and presses in as I think about Bren—where he is, whether he’s still alive?—
“If you don’t want to get caught, Reya, then maybe stop coming!”
The shout echoes through the air, loud enough to make me flinch and I spin around to catch the Outerlander girl storming off down the track toward the mountain settlement, her boots kicking up dirt with every hard step.
But when I turn back, Reya’s nowhere in sight.
What the?—
Spinning on my heel, I scan the horizon, but nothing. Only the open plain, the lake catching the afternoon light, and Ahria, who is now hovering impatiently at my side.
Did she take off while I wasn’t paying attention? Damn, she’s fast.
Squinting up at the sky, I search again for any sign of movement.
Should I wait?
Before the next thought can land, Ahria answers for me, shooting ahead and disappearing toward camp.
“Hey—wait?—”
Breaking into a run, I chase after her.
The comforting smellof beef stew lures me inside the Food Tent, thick and rich enough to make my stomach groan.
A few heads turn as I join the queue. Not surprising, considering I look like I’ve just crawled out of a furnace—my hair still singed from Ahria’s wake-up call this morning, and my clothes are streaked with soot and dried blood from Dave.
I probably should have showered when I got back, maybe even a nap, but Ahria hadn’t seemed willing to wait. Anyway, food means energy, and energy means I can explore more of the camp, pick the brains of the other recruits, check on Ezzy, and stay on my feet a little longer before my body decides it’s ready to collapse. And, preferably all without any more dragons or fire for now.
Yawning, my eyes growing heavier by the second as I watch Ahria weave through the tables with entirely too much energy, snatching chunks of meat straight from people’s bowls.
