AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I nudge Zaina, pointing toward the caves. We need to move quickly if we want to make it out of the cave before it returns.
We stay near the trees as much as possible, concealing ourselves in case it returns. She nods in understanding, staying low to the ground and moving on silent footfalls. I follow behind her, and the chalyx barrels on ahead without a care in the world.
That ridiculous cat is going to give us away, and there is nothing I can do to stop it.
I ignore her and, instead, listen to every sound in the distance. There have been no screams from man or animal, and I have to believe that means Gunnar and Helga are safe.
Once we’re at the mouth of the cave, Zaina holds up a hand to stop me.
“You should let me gather the briar and go back to check on them.” Her voice is a calm whisper, though her eyes are wide.
I shake my head.
“I know you feel more comfortable with the dragon, but I am more familiar with the roses. If there is a chance it could poison you, I won’t take it,” I say, taking her hand in mine. “We do this together.”
She meets my gaze before giving a reluctant nod of her head. We move silently through the cave, past the springs and around the corner into the cell I could go the rest of my life without seeing again.
The one where she nearly died.
The pool glows brightly in the ground, illuminating the charred bones and ashes that surround it, but that isn’t what grabs my attention. I gasp as the blue-green waters reflect on the wall behind it, showcasing hundreds of roses with sharp-edged petals and black stems and thorns.
“I told you.” Zaina’s voice breaks the silence around us.
I unfold the large, fibrous bag I brought with me and hand it to Zaina, then pull shears from my satchel. We exchange our warm leather gloves for the wax-covered wool we need to handle the poisonous flowers.
Hastily, we get to dissecting the vine.
I cut a thorn away, then freeze. The stem sizzles, shriveling in on itself as if it’s dying, as if the thorn was the thing keeping the plant alive. The adjacent vines and roses shrivel up along with it as if they have been poisoned...or are poisoning themselves.
The next cut I make is to the stem of the rose itself, and that seems to slow the spread. I’m not sure what I will do with all the petals, but I can’t preserve the thorns without the whole flower.
The roses I cut at the stem survive, so I use that method to work as efficiently as I can around the slow rot of the vine.
I hurry through more of them, counting each one as I go. Zaina follows each of my movements, catching the flowers in the bag as I drop them. We work silently and efficiently until we have gathered over three hundred.
She starts to tie the bag up when I tell her to stop. To be sure that I will have enough, I move to the bottom of the vine, following the black trailing plant until I find the root. I gently tug it out of the stones and add it to the bag as well.
Zaina shoots me a questioning glance.
“This way, if some of the flowers decay, I can try to grow them at home instead of coming back here again.”
“But once your people are cured, you will destroy it, right?” Her voice is tight, and her expression is neutral.
“I want to study it first. Most plants are versatile. There has to be more to this one than meets the eye.” I pause. “Besides, I’ve heard Ulla likes the taste of this particular poison,” I say coolly, and Zaina gives me a wicked smile, tying up the bag.
We carefully switch back to our leather gloves, placing the wool ones in another satchel. I have studied the petals enough to know that they are deadly on their own, even without the help of an alchemist.
It’s nearly impossible to believe that we have enough thorns to cure my people, and that there are still plenty of healthy vines left on the cave wall. I feel lighter than I have in decades as we head toward the outside. My head is already spinning with possibilities of how to administer the cure, and even potential health benefits that could come from the plant.
We’re only a few yards away from the exit when Khijhana’s ears twitch, and she darts ahead of us. Before my brain has time to register that we should hide, the chalyx is purring and rubbing her face against something that we cannot quite see.
Zaina stills beside me, her fingers gripping my arm as the light begins to shift and the dragon stares back at us.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Zaina
Ihave to fight down my panic at seeing the dragon again, knowing how quickly it can set a person ablaze and devour them.
