“A savage got me with a flail.” The constant throbbing in her hand was nothing compared to the agony in her side, but sharing that would serve no purpose.
He ran his fingers over the worst of the bruising. Soft light surrounded her hand, easing the stiffness, reducing the swelling.
She flinched at his touch, not because it hurt, but because it stirred feelings and memories of Jackson.
“I’m not very good at healing. Ranger taught me a little when…uh…”
Jackson.
What would happen to him when he returned to the castle? If he returned. If Chayce showed up so soon after the Death Dealers had left, he must have been absolutely certain they wouldn’t return. How had Chayce even known they’d gone? The last thing she needed right now was the possibility of another traitor in their midst.
She snatched her hand from Noah’s. “I asked how many got out.”
He took the child from her, climbed to his feet, slumped against a rock wall at their back, and finally met her gaze. “I don’t have anywhere near an exact count, but Tristan estimated less than a hundred.”
“A hun—how could that be?” It couldn’t be possible fewer than a hundred people had managed to escape. “What happened to the rest?”
“We don’t know. We saved as many as we could. Most of those we were able to evacuate had been in the castle.” He studied her, a touch of sadness in his big, brown eyes. He shook his head, and a lock of hair that had grown longer and shaggier than she’d ever seen it dropped across his face, hiding his expression in shadow. He’d always been too sensitive, even when they were still human. “The Guards were behind us. Savages were pouring in through portals from every direction. We stayed as long as we could, Ryleigh, but you have to understand, our allegiance is to you. We had to leave soon after you, make sure we could catch up to you, to protect those who were able to get out.”
She pushed his hair off his face. “It’s all right, Noah. I understand.”
He watched the others climbing ahead of them, his features lined with regret.
“Everyone has their role.” As Mia had not so gently reminded her. “You couldn’t send women and children into the mountains alone with no protection. Most didn’t even have time to grab weapons.”
His expression softened. “Come on. We have to go.”
She turned away from the pain in his eyes and resumed her climb. Still no sign of Mia and Darius. She probably shouldn’t have let Mia go. Or she should have gone with her. Of course, then the Queen’s Army would have been forced to stay, and the civilians they’d managed to save would have been sitting ducks as they tried to flee alone. At least she’d been able to offer them a direction. Whether or not it would turn out to be safe, she had no clue.
She worked to blank her mind and concentrate on the climb. The muscles in her back screamed as she pulled herself up and over another rocky ledge. A sharp rock gouged her injured side, and she bit back a cry.
This would have been so much easier if she could have taken Nahara or Kalayah and flown out. Of course, she couldn’t fit a hundred people on the back of one hound, no matter how big, or one dragon.
She opened and closed her hand, the stiffness interfering with her grip.
Cymmera was a barren land, icy, cold, and though trees still stood, they never bloomed. Underbrush had dried up and blown away centuries ago, soon after Jackson’s mother, Queen Dara, had died. Although ice and snow covering everything was amazingly beautiful, it made scaling the mountain extremely difficult, and her arms and legs were protesting.
She stood and brushed snow and dirt from the front of her sweatshirt and jeans. She reached for her sword before she remembered it had been lost in the battle with Chayce. She wouldn't have thought the empty scabbard hanging at her side would make her feel so naked, so defenseless. She should have kept the flail with her when she’d fled the throne room, couldn’t even remember where she’d lost it. Perhaps the span of peace had made her complacent. She should have paid more attention to Jackson’s warnings about remaining alert.
The first clashes of metal on metal reached her.
“Go, Ryleigh.” Noah gripped the back of her sweatshirt and propelled her onto the platform at the base of the dragon caves, then followed with the boy. “You have to decide where to go. There’s not much time.”
An inhuman scream punctuated his assessment.
Her people entered the cave, then huddled by the entrance, pushing the children behind them, trying to shelter them. Fear emanated from the group. They stared at her, waiting for her orders. Waiting for her to do something to save them.
The caves plunged deep into the mountainside, leading to a labyrinth of tunnels. They might be safe there for a little while, especially if the dragons returned, but Chayce knew every inch of the mountain maze, and he could certainly send his savages to cut them off and slaughter them. She started toward Tristan. “Tristan?”
He fell into step beside her. “Yes.”
“Put together a team and search the area around the backside of the caves.”
“Got it.” He jogged ahead of her.
“Ryleigh!” The fear in Mia’s cry stopped her short.
Nahara, one of Jackson’s giant hounds, flew toward her. Though she belonged to Jackson, Ryleigh had become closer and closer to her since she’d taken up riding her with Jackson while he flew on Nika.
The giant hound landed gracefully on the small platform and dropped to the ground with a whimper. Blood caked the cream colored fur on her left flank.
“Get Kiara!” Mia slid from Nahara and reached up.
Ryleigh yelled for someone to find the healer as she ran toward Mia. “Are you hurt? What happened?”
“No, not me. The pup.” She carefully pulled a small, black pup from Nahara’s back, then ran toward Ryleigh, cradling the puppy close to her. The back end of an arrow protruded from his side. Blood coated Mia’s arms and the front of her shirt.
“What happened? Where’s Nika and Darius?” No way would Darius have let Mia go alone if they were under attack. And Nika was not only overly protective of all his pups, guarding them and helping Nahara care for them, he was overly protective of his humans as well. He would have died defending Mia.
“Darius stayed behind with Nika to fight so we could get away.” She dropped to her knees and started to lay the puppy gently on the cold ground.
“Wait.” Ryleigh stripped off her sweatshirt, brushed some of the snow away, and spread her shirt on the ground. A chill prickled her bare arms for a second, but she quickly regulated her temperature. She wouldn’t be cold in the T-shirt, but it wouldn’t offer much protection if they had to climb higher. “Put him here.”
The arrow had entered the puppy’s side at an angle and come out his back. “He seems to be breathing okay.”
“Yes.” Mia lifted her gaze. Tears streaked down her cheeks. “When Nahara was flying away, he jumped up onto my chest. I got startled and leaned backward. If he hadn’t jumped just then, the arrow would have gone straight through my heart.” Her hand shook as she tangled her fingers in the puppy’s mane.
Ryleigh ran her fingers along his side, then up and over his back. When she didn’t find any evidence the arrow had hit the pup’s wing, she gently spread the silver-flecked, black wing open.
“Do you think he’ll be all right?” Mia clasped her hands together and rocked back and forth, her teeth chattering.
“I don’t know, but it didn’t go through the wing, so I think that’s good.”
Tatiana Storm rushed to their side. “We’re trying