We all threw ourselves onto the ground as the mountain began to quake and rumble. Not twenty yards behind us, lots of snow – and I mean lots – slid right off of the mountain and down, down toward the ground so far below.
It took us about five minutes to calm down from the shock, and then we counted heads. “Someone’s missing,” Hedaris announced.
“Jared?” Shannon asked.
We counted again. Six. There had been eight of us originally. Then Meg cried, “Kit’s gone!”
We tried, we really did. I may not have liked what Camryn was becoming, but I certainly didn’t want her dead. We bent over the edge of the mountain and tried to see if she had been carried away with the avalanche, but we didn’t see anything. After a few futile minutes, Allison started to sniffle. “It’s hopeless, isn’t it?” she asked. “She must be – dead…”
Mary burst out sobbing. I couldn’t cry; I felt strangely detached as I stared down, down into the swirling snow and falling darkness.
It took us an hour to recover from the unexpected loss. I didn’t shed a single tear.
Then we pressed on. The snow fell heavily around us. We stumbled on into the night, half-blinded with precipitation and grief.
Eventually, we came to a cave. A bright orange light flickered within. Hedaris called us into a huddle, although I didn’t think it was necessary for Shannon and Allison to stand so very close to him. “The Oracles wait within,” he shouted, struggling to be heard over the wind. “Be very careful around them. They can be dangerous.”
No one was really listening. We wanted to get in there and be warm again.
I went in first, since the others seemed frightened. Hedaris followed me, and the others carefully filed in behind us. I stopped when I saw what generated the orange light.
It was fire – the fire of a four-headed dragon. She breathed flame almost drowsily, lighting the caverns. I stood outside her range as eight eyes regarded me coldly.
I love dragons, I always have. Seeing one in person was just so mind-numbingly perfect, it took me a little while to snap out of my amazement.
The first head spoke. “This mortal child doth intrude upon mine sacred resting place! Sisters, shall we rend her body and burn the skin from her small frame?” She turned her brilliant green eyes on me. “I am Cheliaw, the true prophet!”
The second head batted her eyelashes. In a ridiculous accent that seemed to be part British, part Southern, she said, “An’ I declare that I am the true prophet, don’t y’ know. I may have the honor o’ bein’ Shyidah, mortal child, an’ I do think that my sister may be right.”
I turned to the third head, who stared at me, then declared, “I am Ysreith, true prophet of the skies / You come uninvited and stand before my eyes. What is it that you would ask of me / The only one who will answer with truth and honesty?” Oh, God, Ysreith was a poet.
The fourth head said nothing for several minutes, only watched with strangely haunted eyes, and then slowly, morosely said, “Keaira is my name. I am the true prophet. I see horror and the ravages of time on all of you with my cursed eyes. What I have to tell you is terrible but always real.”
The dragon reared up. Flames spread across the ceiling. I had an urge to duck, but didn’t, as Cheliaw announced, “Thou art only a mortal, but thou must make a choice!”
Shyidah chuckled, brought her head down close to mine, and whispered, “Choose wrong, an’ you will suffer the consequences!”
“If your choice is unquestionably right / We will answer your questions, though it take all night,” Ysreith said.
Keaira sighed, a hollow, pathetic sound. “All you must do is tell which is the true prophet.”
I nodded slowly, confused. All of them claimed to be the true prophet, but something was wrong here. I read fantasy, I write it, and something didn’t ring true. I thought about the dragons I’ve read about, the dragons I’ve written about, and then I said, “Is it like Twenty Questions? Can I ask questions to lead me to the right choice?”
Shyidah bared her teeth at me in a draconian smile. “You have three questions, mortal. Use them wisely, don’t y’ know, for there is no escape!”
I turned my gaze upon them each in turn. Behind me, Mary, and then the others as well, began praying. I covered my ears, trying to concentrate. Three questions. Three questions! Now, what were the right questions?
I bit my lip and said, “You four say that you are sisters. Is this true?”
One after the other, they all said yes. I said then, “Who are your parents?”
They exchanged glances. Keaira told me, “We have no genealogy. We simply are.”
I began to pace, linking my fingers behind my back. “You claim to be sisters with no parents. That’s impossible. A sister is defined as a female with one or more parents in common with another--I don't doubt you're all females, but without parents you can't be sisters. Therefore, you must be lying. None of you is the true voice.” I turned to face them. “One last question. You are one creature. What is your name?”
Cheliaw cackled. “Thou art wise, mortal girl. Thy friends may be glad to have you. Thou hast answered our riddle, as none has for eons.”
Then the four heads twined together, and through some visual illusion, they became one head, one dragon. In a voice that rang profoundly in the corners of the room, the dragon said, “I am the Oracles. I have no beginning and no end. I bear you no love, but I hate you not. I will answer your questions as best I am able.”
Hedaris laid one hand on my shoulder. “Well done, Ashton,” he murmured. I jerked away, enthralled at the beautiful sight of the dragon – the Oracles.
“Is she really gone?” I asked directly, sure that the Oracles would know who I meant.
She sighed. “I fear me that what you say is true. The Sorceress Kitana is gone.”
I recovered surprisingly quickly and asked, “How do we get home?”
The dragon sighed, exhaling flame that made me hop back. “What is home? Home is not a place. Your home planet is far from here. One person holds the Key, but that person has passed beyond your reach for a time. Know only that there is a way. There is always the light of hope given to the faithful.”
Then she turned her gaze upon the others. “There is not much I can say to you,” she said. “The darkness moves swiftly down upon you, and only as one can you save our world.”
“I don’t care about Avrien!” Mary shrieked. “I just want to go home! Can’t you help us?”
She shook her head. “I am merely an observer of life. You must become a preserver of life, both in this world and the other. In time you will understand my words – and that which you cannot hear with your prejudiced ears.” She looked at me again. “You, child, are exceptional. Lead them well, but do not let your righteous anger overcome you. We will meet again. I bid you good day.”
I never was able to figure out how she did it. I didn’t feel anything at all as we were translocated from the cave of the Oracles back to our horses. We packed up, numb from our encounter with the “observer of life,” and prepared to leave Mount Kayan. Hedaris spoke quietly.
“We will not go back to Halico, girls. We will go southwest from here to my capital city of Calsa. Something evil is coming, and my duty to Telaia calls me home.”
I wonder, sometimes, in the dark night, when nightmares come creeping up on me and I’m so terrified I can’t breathe. I wonder who it was that planted the idea of traveling to Calsa in Hedaris’ head. It wasn’t him, I know, because he had promised to return to Halico and tell them what the Oracles said before doing anything else. It might have been Ghidoli, who with her dying breath cast the spell that saved us, though I know not what it was. It possibly may have been the Oracles.
But in those dark nights, safe in my own bed, in my own world, I begin to wonder if it might have been the subconscious voice of a benighted soul, crying out in desperation, grasping at the fraying threads of reality and trying to make things right again.
*Meg*
We rode out of the mountains at a leisurely speed, silent for the most part, remembering our missing friends – Kit, Jared, and Dakota. I couldn’t believe how this affected me. I had only known Kit and Jared in person for maybe a month, but their being gone made me just want to scream. I also felt numb as I realized that it had been a month since I’d seen my father. He could be married by now! I stroked my horse’s mane, trying not to cry. I did like Avrien, but I liked Earth better. I missed my family, my friends, my school, my computer. I wanted to go to church. I wanted to play with my cats. I wanted to do so many things that I couldn’t do in this world of pagans!
But there were things that I couldn’t do on Earth, either. I remembered that beautiful sense of wonder I had felt when I had been flying. Maybe not flying. All I know is I was standing pretty far away from Kit but I just jumped and boom; there I was, right behind that barbarian. I know I’m not strong enough to have taken that guy down, but I did, and God, it felt good. Magic. On Earth, I would never have the magic again. I would never see a four-headed dragon. I would never attend a Council of Mages. I would never have a tame hunting wolf.
I raised my head and looked around at the others. They were from Wisconsin. On Earth, what were the chances that I would see them again? They didn’t really talk to me very often, but I counted them among my friends.
The horses stopped, making little horse-noises, as Hedaris wheeled his horse to face us. “It is three days from here to Calsa,” he told us. “The barbarians may be planning an ambush. We have to ride hard, but carefully.”
We all nodded helplessly. What did we know about horses? I hadn’t been on a horse a day in my life before we got to Halico. I was just planning to do whatever the others did. Still, I felt an undeniable ache every time I saw Kit’s horse. The poor thing! When it had realized that its rider wasn’t coming back, it had followed after us, completely disheartened. It wouldn’t carry our things or us. Whatever Kit had done to make it carry her, it was loyal to her alone. It hung its head, shuffling along with a pitiful look in its eyes.
We pressed the horses into a canter – is that what it’s called? – and got all the way past the snow before the barbarians struck. Fifty of them came howling out of the trees, lifting spears, swords, hatchets, obviously intending to hack us into teeny little pieces.
Shannon stood up in the stirrups and flung her throwing stars, one rapidly after the other. Two barbarians fell, taking five others down with them, like dominoes. She yanked a knife out of her belt and stabbed one of the men, snatching his sword.
My horse reared, dumped me onto the trail, and took off, trampling several more barbarians. I shook my head, dazed, and staggered to my feet as two grossly muscled men came after me with hatchets.
I jumped, straight up, and got tangled in the upper branches of a tree.
I wriggled around, grabbed a branch, and dropped onto the confused barbarians. I slammed my hand onto the first one’s nose, breaking it and sending him to his knees. I elbowed the other in the stomach and grabbed both hatchets. I didn’t kill them. I just moved on, wielding my hatchets and trying to find my horse.
Then a little chestnut creature trotted in front of me. Kit’s horse looked at me, inviting me to climb on. I planted one foot in the stirrup and swung myself onto her back, throwing one of my hatchets at an advancing barbarian. Then I spared a glance at the others.
They weren’t doing too badly. Shannon’s horse was totally into it, flailing his hooves at the men she didn’t quite have time to cut down. Ashton and Mary had grabbed swords and were on the ground, back-to-back, not very good but adequate. Allison clung to Hedaris, looking totally useless.
The battle was over in a few minutes. I was astonished to discover how many barbarians I had killed. I hadn’t been aiming to kill. The two I had roughed up earlier were dead, one trampled by Kit’s horse, the other with Shannon’s knife in his heart. I shuddered.
Ashton stared at me, sitting tall on Kit’s horse. “I can’t believe she’ll let you ride,” she said.
I shrugged. “Dunno.”
There were no more incidents that day. We made camp near a spring and took turns bathing. I leaned against a rock with my cloak wrapped around me as a sort of robe and thought about Earth. I thought about me, and Eric, and my cats, but mostly just me. And then I was there.
It sounds incredibly hard to believe, I know, but I was there. I was on Earth. I was in my own head again, and I read her thoughts – my thoughts – and her memories. I picked out the date.
April! Oh, God, it was April. Five months. I had been gone for five months here! I had missed my birthday in February!
The other me – Manda-me – was at school, in the hallway. She dropped her books in horror when my memories melded with hers, and my friend El-beth helped pick them up.
“You okay, Manda?”
“I’m good,” she answered. “Would you totally hate me if I cut class?”
El-beth laughed. “It’s history, Manda. I’d cut it with you if it didn’t look so suspicious. See you at lunch.”
“Yeah,” Manda said faintly. She headed toward the bathroom, checked that it was empty, and tossed her books onto the shelf, staring at us in the mirror. “Who are you?” she whispered.
“I’m you!” I cried. “This sounds crazy, but Camryn got me sent to some other world five months ago, and I have no idea how I’m back but I am.”
Manda shook her head. “No way. If you’re there and I’m here, how can we be the same person?” She looked over my memories. “Why are you calling yourself Meg? That’s my mother. You can’t have my mother’s name.”
I shrugged mentally. “Manda, look, I know it seems really weird, but it’s absolutely real. The Oracles told us that there is a way to come back to Earth. We’ll find it and I’ll come back and we’ll be normal again. Okay?”
She checked over my memories one more time before nodding. “Okay. Okay. I’m going insane, but okay.”
I moved back, flipped through her memories, and found what I didn’t want to see. “The wedding’s in June?”
Manda nodded miserably. “Eric will be our stepbrother,” she moaned. “I can’t stand it. How can Dad marry Her?”
I sighed. “I’m going to go, then. Have fun being a flower girl. What does She think we are, six?”
I thought myself back into my body on Avrien and almost fell over. My legs had gone numb. I got dressed and dashed back to the campsite to tell the others, then stopped.
I ran back over my new memories. Camryn. She was there, on Earth. She had talked to us only yesterday. I felt a great deal better. Even if she was dead here, once we got back to Earth…
Then I realized that I didn’t want to tell the others. This was my secret – my own private way to live on Earth and Avrien at the same time. If they went back, they wouldn’t return to Avrien, ever. But that was stupid. They would leave the magic, the power, behind, just for Earth.
No. I would force them to stay a while. They would just have to live in the magic. Give it a chance.
“What kept you?” Allison asked when I finally got back to the campsite
“Nothing,” I replied.
*Jared*
I stretched out on my tree limb and stared down at the leopards who considered us to be food. Dakota had gone off somewhere to hunt, abandoning us to the elements.
Us. Elu and me.
I met Elu when the barbarians dragged him into their camp not long after I got there. He was young, maybe nine, and his face was scarred. He dressed in rags and there was a serenity in his dark, unseeing eyes. The little blind boy had found peace in darkness.
“This boy was following the witch,” one of his guards snapped at Asjanel.
“Your name?” the magician drawled.
“Elu of Niyuu,” the boy replied. “The village you destroyed, mighty Asjanel. I escaped, but lost my sight to the fires.”
I mentally chalked up another point in favor of murdering Asjanel. As it stood, that was quite impossible; I was tied to a pole and busily working on the ropes. They tied Elu up near me.
“Was that your wolf?” he asked calmly.
“You saw Dakota?” I asked. “Where?”
“I did not see him,” Elu said. I winced. How inconsiderate of me! He continued, “He was whining. I know hunting wolves well; they were the trade of Niyuu.”
I finally got the ropes undone and dropped, catlike, to the ground, hurrying over to untie Elu. Asjanel was making a speech and didn’t see us as I led the blind boy away. What idiots these barbarians were!
We unmuzzled my poor Dakota and escaped into the forest. “We must go to Calsa,” Elu said. “An acquaintance of yours will soon betray you, and we must be in Calsa before your friend besieges it.”
Kitana. Had to be Kitana. None of my other friends would do such a thing.
However, Elu knew the way to Calsa and I didn’t. We got lost several times, eventually aggravating the leopards, and that was how night found us a month later – stuck in a tree with only fruit to eat. I was dehydrated. I was starved. And I really wished Dakota would do something about it.
My blind friend had fallen asleep, and I found myself watching him. He called himself a Seer, and described himself as “one who, in losing his sight, began to truly see.” I got the distinct impression that he didn’t see blackness with those ravaged eyes of his.
Dakota came back at that point, but he wasn’t alone. He was leading one of the barbarians – Ryac, I think. He was very skinny, just like Asjanel. He stared up at us.
“Hello,” he said civilly. “You seem to be in a predicament.”
The leopards ignored him, gazing up at Elu and me.
“Maybe just a little,” I replied.
Ryac laughed. “Your hunting wolf brought me here. I am Asjanel’s apprentice. I can draw the leopards off for you. Then I will take you to the path that leads to Calsa.”
“Why?” I asked suspiciously.
He grinned. “Because, my dear assassin, I truly believe that you will someday kill Asjanel. Then I will be the magician of the Plainspeople. It’s all in the furtherance of my career.”
“Ah.” I poked Elu. “Wake up, kid, help is here.” He blinked and sat up, rubbing his blind eyes.
“What help?”
“Some barbarian who wants me to kill Asjanel.”
“Oh, all right.”
There was a loud squeal off in the forest. The leopards perked up, looked longingly in the direction of the sound, and reluctantly abandoned us in favor of the pig that wasn’t really there. I climbed down, grabbed Elu’s hands, and pulled him to the ground.
Ryac brought us to a path. Elu touched the dirt and said, “This will bring us to Calsa.” The three of us walked off. We didn’t say good-bye to Ryac. He was a barbarian, after all, and we didn’t like them.
We arrived at Calsa about noon the next day. “Who goes there?” a sentry called.
“Elu of Niyuu,” the boy called, “and my bodyguard Jared, and my hunting wolf Dakota.” I’m glad he took charge. “The greatest thief and assassin in the world” probably wouldn’t have gotten me into Calsa.
The sentry paused to confer with someone else, and then the gate swung open. We entered and were assaulted by a young woman on a horse. She reminded me of Hedaris – the same black hair, though hers was longer, those same gray-green eyes. She smiled, and I finally realized exactly why the girls were attracted to her brother. “So you’re Jared,” she said. “Your friends are here.”
“Really?” I asked. “Where?”
“With my brother,” the woman said. “I’m Princess Amidan. Welcome to Calsa.”
The princess led us to the castle, which sat in the middle of the city and was really very ugly. Even the dead city of Halico had been better-looking. We came eventually to a small room. I stood in the doorway, Elu on one side and Dakota on the other, and watched my friends.
Ashton had a book in one hand and an apple in the other. She was sprawled across the bed, hanging upside-down off the edge, completely engrossed in her reading. Meg was beating up an unoffending punching bag. Mary was poring over a map, looking distraught, while Allison leaned over her shoulder. Shannon was throwing knives at the ceiling and catching them again, although she was in such a position that she was likely to behead herself.
“Where’s Kitana?” I asked.
My friends heard me and took notice. “Jared!” Shannon squealed, catching the knife and running over to embrace me. I wriggled away and looked at Mary and Allison.
“What are they doing?” I asked.
Mary looked harassed, so Allison answered. “Well, the mages of Naeco are going to lay siege to the city in three days, so…”
Mary buried her face in her heads and moaned, “Hedaris and Amidan spontaneously decided to make me the General of the entire army of Calsa. I’m leading the army. Oh, my God, I’m leading the army!”
*Allison*
I really didn’t know how to calm Mary down. She hadn’t wanted to lead the army. She’s the most peace-loving person I know. She’s perky, she’s happy all the time…and now she was going to order people to kill other people.
The boy who had showed up with Jared came over to us and laid a hand on Mary’s shoulder. “All will be well,” he told her.
“What’s Naeco?” Jared asked.
Ashton explained, “It’s the opposite of Halico. The Head Mage of Naeco just got elected. They say the new Head Mage wants to conquer all of Avrien. Calsa’s the closest city, so the Head Mage sent a nice letter yesterday and told us that he was laying siege to the city.”
“That’s not all,” Meg added, abandoning her punching bag. “We don’t have magical help. Halico should be our allies, but…well, see…”
“It was Asjanel,” Shannon grumbled. “Those barbarians decided to attack Halico again.” She seemed suddenly pale, and I knew why, but we had to tell Jared, so Shannon went on, “It’s scary, because if we hadn’t come to Calsa, we would have entered Halico and met an occupying army of several hundred Plainsmen. They killed Ghidoli and most of the mages, and now half of their forces are marching north. They’re going to hit Calsa from the other side in a week.”
I sighed and took up the story. “We’ll have the mages on one side, the barbarians on the other, and no magical help at all.”
“That sucks,” Jared said mildly. “This is my friend Elu. He escaped from Niyuu. He’s a Seer.” He paused. "No magic? What about Kitana?"
Mary rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. In the low monotone of someone who's cried too much, she said, "She's dead. Camryn is dead."
Jared blinked and staggered over to the bed. "Dead? But...how?"
Shannon tentatively patted Jared's shoulder. "Asjanel. Who the hell else?"
Jared licked a finger and made a mark in the air. "Just another reason to kill him very soon," he said numbly.
Elu abandoned Mary and climbed up onto the bed. He patted Jared's hair. "All will be well," he repeated.
One of our personal bodyguards appeared in the doorway. "General, your presence is requested, along with that of your personal advisor."
Mary nodded and stood up. I followed her. Jared held up a hand. "Wait, Allison is Mary's personal advisor? I've been gone too long..."
"You've been gone for a month," Meg said. "Lots can happen in a month."
Mary and I walked down the drab hallways, set up for defense rather than comfort. The entire castle was a maze. Mary accepted a map from the guard and unrolled it, staring at it. "Another map of the city? Don't I have one of these?"
I had to stand on my tiptoes to see over her shoulder. Height is not my strong point. "Oh, but see, this one is different."
"I don't see a difference."
"The colors are different."
Mary crumpled the map up and stopped walking. In a rare moment of anger, she shrieked, "Why the hell do I have to be their damn general? I'm not a soldier! I'm just a teenage girl trying to get through high school and through this horrible adventure!" She took a deep breath, counted to ten, and said more civilly, "Why can't Shannon be the general? She has weapons. I've never even touched a gun. Oh, yeah, we don't have guns in this primitive wasteland! How am I supposed to defend this city without gunpowder?" Civility had quickly degenerated into rage. Again.
The guard coughed. "Well, that's why we have naphtha."
"What the hell is naphtha?"
I picked that little random piece of information out of my mind and answered, "A volatile flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture. I think we're supposed to set fire to it and pour it on the enemy from the top of the wall."
Mary stared at me. "I'm going to ignore the fact that I have no idea what you just said and skip right to the part I did get. That's horrible!"
"Not as horrible as what the mages will do to us," I said grimly. "Come on, Mary, you saw what Camryn used to do. That's what they'll do to us if we don't defend Calsa. Besides, it's a good way to get on Hedaris' good side." I sighed. "He is so dreamy."
"I don't think so." Mary shrugged and looked at the map, smoothing it out. "We are not using naphtha, except as a last resort."
"How can you not think he is hot?" I demanded.
She laughed, sounding for a moment like the old Mary. "I've seen cuter, on Earth."
"Yeah? Like who?"
"Lots of guys. From the movies. That one guy, from that one movie? He was cute."
I shook my head. "Girl, you scare me."
The guard coughed again. "Ladies, may I suggest we proceed to the throne room? Princess Amidan and Prince Hedaris need to talk to you."
"Ooh!" I squealed. "Let's go, Mary!"
We navigated our way to the throne room and bowed to the royal teenagers. I hovered near Mary as she started to argue about the naphtha with Amidan. I spent my time staring at Hedaris. He looked so adorably serious as he plotted war...sigh.
A guard came in then. "May I present the mage Imarath?" he asked in a quaking voice.
"Send him in," Hedaris said, sitting up straight. In a very audible whisper, he said, "Beware. Imarath is the former Head Mage of Naeco."
A tall, thin man draped in black robes strode in. He inclined his head. "Your Highnesses," he said. His dark, burning eyes fell on Mary. "And you would be the general."
"Yes," Mary said shakily.
"I have come here bearing a message from my superior," Imarath announced. "The Head Mage bears you all greetings. This is what I was told to say: 'We have learned that you have in your possession a boy called Elu. If you bring him and one of the strangers to me in the Tower, I will not be forced to destroy Calsa. We are armed with catapults and mangonels loaded with naphtha. We have also a contraption called a trebuchet. This single trebuchet has enough power to beat your castle to the ground, even from outside the walls. I still hold to the promise that I will give you three days. Get your people inside the castle, because if the boy Elu and one of the strangers are not delivered up to me, I will burn your city to the ground even as the barbarians have laid waste to the necropolis of Halico. Much love from the Head Mage of Naeco.'" Imarath smiled darkly. "These are the words of my superior. I will leave now, unmolested."
He promptly turned into a hummingbird and flew away.
"Well," Amidan said mildly after a moment. "That settles that. Guard, give the order to bring every living being in the city into the castle."
"But the trebuchet?" I asked. "The Head Mage was clear, Your Highness. With his trebuchet he'll knock the castle down."
Mary nodded and spread her map out. "Get the people out altogether," she suggested. "To the east there's a city. I can't read this tiny print, but it looks like it's close enough. They can be long gone before the barbarians get to the south side of Calsa."
Hedaris nodded. "My sister, the general is correct. Taquin is safer by far."
Amidan smiled. "Very well. Thank you, Mary. Guard, new orders. Go, then."
The guard left and I blinked. "Why can't we just turn over Elu and Meg?" I asked. "Meg has magic. She can take care of them and Calsa will be safe."
Mary shook her head. "No, Ally, we can't ask Meg and Elu to put themselves in danger." She scrutinized the map and sighed. "Bring out the naphtha. It seems to be the only way..."
We went back to our rooms. I wasn't ready to give up, so I asked Elu, "Would you mind going to Naeco?"
Elu shuddered. "No," he said vehemently. "I have seen horrors with these eyes of mine, but far worse is the torture I would surely endure if I went to Naeco."
And that was that.
We spent three days evacuating everyone but the army, the royal family, and ourselves. Mary and I took up a more or less permanent residence on the city wall, scouting for the approach of the mages on the third day.
At dawn exactly, they attacked.
There was no magic. They didn't knock anyone over or burn them in magical flames or anything. They brought their siege weapons, settled down, and started lobbing rocks and burning naphtha at the walls. They didn't try to throw fire into the city - not yet.
After a few hours, the pounding of rocks on the walls became monotonous, so we went to get breakfast in the castle. Mary was getting nervous very quickly. She trembled as she tried to eat scrambled eggs and finally put her fork down.
Jared, on the other hand, was absolutely ravenous. "Who made these?" he asked.
The king, who was very old, smiled. "The Head Mage of Naeco sent them over. According to Imarath, he made too much."
I choked. "They're probably poisoned!"
"Oh, they're not," Ashton assured me. "Dakota ate some, and I think he would know, wouldn't you?" She patted Dakota on the head and continued eating.
Nevertheless, I didn't finish my eggs. "I don't trust that Head Mage and I've never seen him," I muttered.
Mary coughed and dug into her eggs with a vengeance. I watched in amazement. I don't pretend to be a psychiatrist or anything, but at that moment, I was reading Mary like a book. She had a plan. And I didn't think it was going to be a good plan, either - by which I mean to say, it would probably get us in a lot of trouble or possibly dead.