19
“Afemale?” Taggart stared at the cloud of midges. A female Draecna complicated matters tenfold. “Are ye certain she said the hatchling was a female?”
“She made herself quite clear, my prince. She said the female’s name was Esme.” The gnat hovered higher then lower, as if stressing the reliability of its information.
“Septamus!”
“I am not deaf. Stop bellowing. Do you wish our presence announced to all in Erastaed?” Septamus slid his snout through the narrow opening of the tent and shoved through the flap. “By the way, how do you expect to fit inside this dwelling when in your Draecna form? I have to hunch over to keep my horns from snagging the rigging and yanking down the poles.”
Taggart waved away the grumbling. “Ye have done naught but complain since we crossed the threshold and led the army through the pass at Ruarke Ridge. Have ye lost your touch, Septamus? Can ye not survive beyond the walls of Taroc Na Mor or the goddess’s caverns?”
The elder released two snorts of black smoke as he yanked his horns free of the lines holding the canvas tent taut between thewooden poles. “Mind your tongue, rash hybrid. You know as well as I, it would be much more efficient to cross Erastaed with equipment sized for full-blooded Draecna rather than puny humans.”
Taggart ignored him, studying the map draped across the table. He ran a finger along a jagged blue line. “Once I shift, we will not return to this camp overlooking Sloan’s keep.”
Septamus tapped a claw on the map. “The flies say she is in the death cells and moved to a new one at the stroke of every killing hour. They could not locate the egg. But I am certain Sloan keeps it in his chambers.” The senior Draecna peeled back the map to reveal a detailed schematic of Tiersa Deun. Again, he tapped a claw on a highlighted wing. “And you do realize when both are stolen from under his nose, your brother will not be satisfied until he sees everyone in Erastaed dead whether they fight for him or against him.”
“The death cells,” Taggart repeated. Hannah trapped in the bowels of Tiersa Deun. Where Sloan tortured his prisoners for amusement until death brought them merciful release. “Erastaed is due a cleansing. This time, I will not go quietly to another world.”
Septamus responded with a single nod of his gray horned head. “I shall spread the word. I am certain many will join us. Centuries of followers have waited for you to reclaim your throne.”
Taggart rose and pushed out through the tent flap. He strode to the edge of the cliff overlooking the densely wooded gorge hiding the fortress of Tiersa Deun. Erastaed stretched out before him. Purple-hazed mountains. Jagged, unforgiving terrain. A mournful howl echoed through the rising haar, the soft blanket of mist that settled across the land each evening.
Home. The word made him snort, his breath fogging in the dropping temperatures. Humiliated at the altar, stripped of his birthright, and forced to watch everything he loved destroyed. How could he consider Erastaed home? A biting wind whipped against him as though trying to shove him deeper into the painful memories. The sea lay a few miles to the west of the gorge. The stench of rotted fish hung heavy in the air. The graceful blue terns that keptthe beaches picked clean of any carrion had been hunted to extinction by Sloan’s order. He said their early morning keen annoyed him.
“Taggart! You really need to hurry.”
An eerie awareness made his nape tingle, standing every hair on end. He turned and scanned the grove of gently swaying trees, searching for her. How was she able to speak to him?
“Hannah?”
The first of the twin Erastaedian moons swelled full and bright in the early evening sky. Clouds raced across it, flitting through its light.
“Taggart? Is that you?”
Bathed in the brilliant blue-white light, he realized her thoughts rode the moonlight to him.“I hear ye! Can ye see the moon? Touch its light? Ye must not look away or we will surely lose this connection.”
“It’s shining into my cell. Please, you must hurry and save us. Esme only has three days and then she will die if I don’t help her hatch. I have to release her in three days. She must not die. I couldn’t bear it.”
Only three days? His gut clenched as though punched.
“Taggart. Did you hear me? Are you still there?”
“I will come for ye, I swear. Ye must not give up hope, my love. Promise ye willna release her until I arrive. I will be there in time.”He paced along the edge of the cliff, kicking at clumps of dried grass. She must not help the youngling hatch. As soon as she did, Sloan would kill her.“Hannah, promise me?”
Nothing but deafening silence answered as the wind smothered the glowing beacon of the night with a blanket of impenetrable clouds.
“And on the third day,she brought forth the hatchling and was relieved of her head.” Sloan chuckled and clicked his black lacquered nails.
Hands behind her back, Hannah took in a deep breath while staring at the egg. Esme lay coiled tight as a spring, more than readyto emerge. The female knew the day had arrived and she waited for Hannah’s touch.
“I will protect ye, Guardian. The evil ones speak freely around me. I have listened and know exactly what to do.”
Hannah swallowed hard and reminded herself to breathe as she rubbed her hands together. She appreciated Esme’s bravado, but she remembered her precious wee William’s entry and couldn’t imagine a brand new hatchling protecting much of anything. “Protect yourself, Esme. You won’t have a flame because you are a young one. As soon as you hatch, I want you to run and hide. Don’t look back or worry about me. Just hide. Promise me you will. I will do my best to distract them so you can get away.”
Laughter as warm as a hug filled Hannah’s mind, matching the pulsating glow of the egg.“Females are born fully matured with complete knowledge and control of all powers, dearest Guardian. It is the males who require training because they are immature.”
“Interesting.” Hannah resettled her stance. That leveled the playing field a little.
