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“Get to the ground,” I ordered Rivven.

After a moment of hesitation, he led his mount into a nosedive. I slowed the storm, letting the birds regain their equilibrium. They turned their sights on me, the one thing in the sky that may have been responsible for the craziness they found themselves in. And they dove as one toward me.

I released the air currents holding me up and dropped like a rock toward the ground. My hair flew free of its bonds and sailed up around me like it was desperate to avoid my fate. Then I shoved upward one last time at the air, pushing the pursuing predators away.

Tired from wielding so much at one time, I focused all I had on the earth power, dormant inside me. If I could call to the ground to rise and meet me in a soft pile…

But Torvo’s strong arms caught me instead. My stomach dipped dangerously as he wove his way down in a slowing curve, finally setting me on shaky feet, but I fell to my knees, squeezing my eyes shut in an attempt to ease the racing of my heart.

By the time I looked up, they were all gathered around me, staring. Rivven reached out a hand, and I took it, letting him haul me easily to my feet.

“They knew we were going to fly this way.” Even as I said the words, I realized how unnecessary they were. It was clear that the king knew where we were and that we wouldn’t be safe for long.

“We should keep moving,” Rivven said, looking out into the distance.

I followed his gaze to find the horizon filled with deep blue that blended into the sky beyond. To our left were clover fields, and to our right dense woods with a palpable hostile energy.

“Over those hills is Grohier, the port city and entrance to the kingdom,” Galan said, gesturing straight ahead toward the sea.

“It’s a wide-open space.” I again stated the obvious. “My illusions would be useless because the guards will likely be looking for them.”

“I think you’ve used enough energy for now,” Torvo said, placing a protective arm around me. “What you did was quite impressive.”

“Yes, it was,” Rivven agreed, making me raise my eyebrows in surprise. Perhaps I’d hit my head after all and had only imagined Torvo intervening in my landing. It was easier to believe that than Rivven actually praising me.

I squinted at the area Galan had pointed out. Then I reached out and grabbed both Torvo and Rivven’s arms. “They have a trap set. I see the illusion. They know we have to go that way. We’ll have to take the long path through the forest.”

Galan laughed. “Through the Forest of Monsters? No, thank you. I’ll take my chances fighting my way through.”

“No monster is worse than my father. We have to go the other way.”

“Except there are multiple monsters. You did catch the S on the end of that, right?” Galan asked through a pasted-on smile.

“I will follow either way,” Kendara announced, joining our small circle. When I looked around, I realized the bird she’d been riding was already gone.

“I say we cut through the woods,” Devira said, hand on hip. “If she can take on three giant raptors, then I feel pretty good about our chances.”

“It does seem the logical path,” Hymer added, staring off toward the hills.

“I believe there is a third alternative,” Torvo said, gazing up at the sky.

“Those birds are not happy with me,” I whispered, but he smiled and tipped his chin up indicating I should follow.

High above, dipping in and out of the clouds, was the very beast I’d been wishing to meet. Vengeance the dragon circled the skies, her long dark tail flowing out behind her. They didn’t know we had a dragon. Even if someone had joined our party to feed information elsewhere, they wouldn’t have seen her. Hope surged in my heart.

“They won’t be looking for illusions in the sky anymore, and certainly not for a dragon. How do we get her to land?” I asked, searching the faces around me, eagerly.

Rivven and Torvo exchanged a look I couldn’t read, but it was Galan who cleared his throat and stepped forward. Looking apologetic, he shrugged. “She’s bonded to Nyah. She’ll know how to call her.”

“No problem,” I said, stuffing down any disappointment. “It’ll just take a second.”

But I wasn’t given a second before the sky darkened and an enormous illusion spell appeared above. It was the face of a woman. She had probably been pretty before she was taken prisoner, but now her eyes were covered with a blindfold, blood trickled from the corner of a busted lip, and her face and dark hair were wild and dirty. She wore a thick metal collar with a shard of crystal embedded in it that I recognized immediately as the same kind that Rivven had worn when he’d been in the dungeon. He’d said it suppressed his magic.

I didn’t know this woman—then again, I didn’t know many people outside of Centos. But it was clear Rivven did because he dropped to his knees as a scream of rage cut through the air like a beacon of pure sorrow.

Twenty-Six

Rivven