I’ll keep your tastes in mind.
Outside the cave, Syla looked left and right through the trees, their leaf- and needle-filled branches swaying in the wind, the dark night making it hard to see anything. No moon would guide her way, and a wise traveler would hunker down and wait for day. But she dared not wait.
She picked her way along the animal path that had led the stormers up to the cave. It would be easier and safer to return to the beach where they’d arrived, but people would look there first for her. Instead she went in the opposite direction, hoping to find an open spot along the bluff where a dragon might land.
Igliana,Syla tried calling, in case her power might reach to where the orange dragon had nested for the night.I’ve escaped from the stormers and am badly in need of a ride. Are you out there? Can you hear me?
Only the wailing wind and the roar of the sea answered her.
Soon sodden from the rain, the amphora slipping in her grip, Syla bumped against a log and fell over it, almost losing everything. Weary and miserable, she wanted to stop to rest, but… she sensed someone out there with her. A person with power.
Jhiton?
It might be that Vorik had noticed she’d left and come to look for her, but her instincts told her it was Jhiton even before she could identify him for certain. She pushed herself to her feet and turned in the direction of the sea.
Igliana, she called again.If you can hear me, I’m angling for the bluff. I’ll try to find a spot where you can reach me.
No dragons will fly in this weather,spoke a cold telepathic voice from nearby.
Jhiton.
Fear blasted her, and her heart slammed against her ribcage. Jhiton had never spoken into her mind before—and she’d never wanted him to.
Syla picked up her pace. Had it grown slightly lighter? Was dawn approaching? With the heavy cloud cover, it was hard to tell, but she had to hope daylight would come, that the storm would abate, and Igliana would be able to reach her. But she worried all that would take hours, and Jhiton…
Where was he? She’d first sensed him behind her, but he’d disappeared from her awareness. Could he mask his presence somehow? Was he even now creeping closer?
Syla glanced back but didn’t see anyone. Ahead, the trees were less dense. She went in that direction until she could makeout the ocean in the distance, beyond an open rocky space on the top of the bluff. The cliff underneath dropped away a hundred feet or more before reaching the sea, and she stopped instead of going out onto the bare rock. She remembered Captain Lesva falling off a cliff after lightning struck and didn’t want to tempt fate.Shewould never survive plummeting that far.
Igliana is searching for you,Wreylith spoke into Syla’s mind.
Thank the gods.Syla peered into the dark sky over the sea, hoping the dragon would fly into view soon. Before Jhiton crept up and plunged a dagger into her back.
You may thankme. She was sleeping, but I woke her with the promise of your upcoming horn-hog compound.
Excellent, and I do thank you.
Syla looked behind her again, certain she hadn’t imagined sensing the general. She definitely hadn’t imagined his voice in her head.
Vorik?She tried to call back to him. They’d never spoken telepathically, but he’d seemed to sense her when she’d shouted a silent warning when he’d been swimming away from the weapons platform.
Vorik has not left the cave.Jhiton’s voice came from behind her and to the right, and she spun in that direction. He stood between two trees, the wind whipping his cloak and riffling his short dark hair.
She could again sense his power. His magic.
He gripped a longsword in each hand and stared at her with steady cold eyes.What did you do to my people?
They’re fine. Just sleeping.
Sleeping.
Yeah.
As silent and inevitable as death, Jhiton strode toward her.
Not wanting to be maneuvered toward the edge of the bluff, Syla tried to shift sideways through the trees. But when she went left, he leaped lightly over ferns and logs to block her route. When she attempted to go in the other direction, he did the same, hardly expending any effort, though he moved as fast as a cheetah to intercept her. To deliberately try to maneuver her out onto the bare rock near the edge of the bluff.
She had little choice but to back in that direction and hope Igliana would swoop down and grab her before Jhiton reached her. But, if he wanted, he could reach her in an instant. It wasn’t as if she could run as fast as he, especially not with her arms full.
