“We already asked him that, remember?” I say. “He wasn’t exactly forthcoming with information. The man talks in riddles.”
“Because he’s weak and confused,” Briony says, with more sympathy than the man deserves. He may have been brought out here against his will, he may even have been held here captive, but I find the fact he’s survived all this time strange. Even if he is who he says he is, I haven’t changed my initial impression that the man is suspicious.
Briony eats all of her sandwich except her crusts, offering them to Blaze along with some of the fruit we’ve packed. At first the dragon sniffs them with disgust but when he determines there’s nothing better coming his way, he gobbles them down in one bite.
“It’s hardly enough for a dragon,” Briony says, stroking his snout.
“Hopefully we’ll be out of here before too long and he can snack on all the squirrels and rabbits he likes,” Dray says.
“I doubt he’s eating squirrels and rabbits any longer. More like sheep and cows.” Ones he’s probably stealing from innocent farmers.
The dragon sweeps his gaze my way and I suspect I’m right.
“I’m going to talk to the old man now,” Briony announces.
“I think you should let him rest,” I say.
“We want to get out of this place quickly, don’t we?” We all nod, me reluctantly because I can sense an argument coming my way that I’m not going to like. “And we don’t know where to go next. This man might be able to help us.”
She picks up one of the rucksacks and moves towards the stairway. The rest of us follow her, me reluctantly.
We find the man sitting up, leaning against the wall, his tattered robes gathered around his bony frame.
Briony lights the room with her own magic this time. It’s much brighter than ours, and the old man blinks against the intrusion, shading his eyes with his arm, revealing just how pale he’s become out here in a land with no sun.
“Turn it down a notch, Kitten,” Dray says, “the old dude’s eyes are no longer accustomed to that much light.” She does and the man drops his arm gratefully.
“You look a little better,” Briony says with one of her smiles.
“The water helped,” he says, his voice a fraction stronger than it was before. “May I trouble you for some more?”
“Of course,” she says, but I step forward offering the man our flask before she can do it.
He struggles to lift the flask to his mouth, much of the water dribbling down his chin. It’s hard to watch and for the first time, I feel a little sympathy for the man. Surviving out here onmy own would have driven me insane long ago, no matter how strong my desire to make it home, to return to those I love. If the demons didn’t finish me off, I think I’d have found a way to do it to myself. And yet, here he is, his senses scrambled, just not as much as I’d expect.
He lowers the flask to the floor.
“How did you come to be here?” I try once more. His disappearance is a mystery that lingers unsolved in the realm. A mystery that as far as I can remember has never been acknowledged by my mother. I half expected the old Head to step out of his office one day and greet us all.
“I’m sorry, my boy, but I don’t know.”
I scrutinize his face. Searching for signs that he is lying, but it’s not possible to tell.
“What can you tell us about the demon realm?” I ask him next.
“Much, I’m sure. I’ve had a lot of time to study their ways out here.”
“Why didn’t you try to escape? Why didn’t you return to our realm?” Briony asks him.
“Easier said than done, Miss …”
She shifts her gaze to me. She must know I don’t want her to answer that question but she does anyway. “Storm.”
“Storm,” he hums. “I know that name. You have a sibling … I think, although … how old are you?”
“My sister was nine years older than me. I think you were headmaster while she was there.”
“Of course.” His amber eyes flicker to life. “I remember her, Amelia.”
