Anders’s heart skipped, then skipped again. It was good news that Ennar was in charge. When Hayn had been locked up and Sigrid had proclaimed Anders the enemy of the wolves, Ennar had had her doubts. She certainly wasn’t on their side, but she might be willing to listen to Anders, if he could find the right words... and stop the rest of the wolves attacking long enough to begin a conversation.
But for Sigrid to be missing... he could already imagine Lisabet’s face when she heard the news. Though she disagreed with her mother on almost everything, she still loved her.
And for his part, Anders was worried about where Sigrid was, and what she might be doing. He couldn’t help thinking of all the rubble back in Holbard, and no matter what she had done, he hoped that she wasn’t buried beneath it. If she was somewhere out there, though, on the loose, that would spell trouble for him and his friends.
He and Rayna quickly relayed everything that had happened since the last time they’d seen Hayn, with Sam adding details once they got to the part of the story that featured him. As they reached the end, their uncle wrapped an arm around each of their shoulders.
“You’ve both been so brave,” he said.
“We’ve both been such failures,” Anders replied. “Look at the city.”
“That wasn’t your fault,” Hayn said firmly. “I don’t know why the Snowstone or the Sun Scepter behaved the way they did. They’re both powerful artifacts, but they shouldn’t have caused this level of destruction.” His voice dropped lower. “I have a horrible feeling... ,” he began, then stopped.
Anders looked up at him. “A feeling about what?” he asked.
“They’re both such old artifacts,” Hayn replied. “I wasn’t sure there was any chance they would work at all. I thought the augmenters were necessary.”
Anders reached up to touch the augmenter that hung on a strap around his neck next to his Ulfar amulet, an artifact that made sure he still had his clothes when he turned from a wolf back into a human. The Ulfar amulet felt like a part of him now, and he had almost completely forgotten about the augmenter. In the midst of the battle, he and Rayna had made their way to Hayn’s cell and found he had left a pair of augmenters behind, one for each of the twins.
“You mean the augmenters made the artifacts so powerful that they destroyed the city?”
“Maybe,” said Hayn. “I honestly don’t know.”
“I don’t suppose there’s another artifact out there that we could use the augmenters on?” Anders asked wistfully. “Something that would rebuild everything?”
“I don’t think it’s that simple,” Hayn replied, “but I can think of one thing you might be able to do with your augmenters. It’s only a rumor, but even so...”
“What is it?” Anders was willing to try just about anything.
“This wall you told me about that leads to where Drifa is hidden,” Hayn continued. “I don’t know what it can possibly mean, but I have an idea about how you could find out.”
He was digging through his pockets feverishly, and after a few moments, he produced a crumpled sheet of paper. It was thick, shot through with fibers, and as Anders looked at it more closely, he realized some of the fibers were very thin threads of metal. The paper itself was an artifact.
Hayn dug in his other pocket and produced a stub of a pencil, then gestured for Rayna to turn around and give him her back to lean on. He carefully inscribed a series of runes on each half of the paper, then folded it down the middle and tore along the fold, handing each of the twins one of the pieces.
“You still have your augmenters?” he asked.
Anders fished his out from where it hung down the front of his shirt. The little disc was covered in runes identical to the ones on Rayna’s augmenter.
“Tonight,” said Hayn, “I want you to take these pieces of paper and wrap them around the augmenters. It would be better if a dragonsmith forged the runes for you, but the paper’s well made, and the runes I’ve designed are simple. I think it’ll be enough, if the trick works at all. Find some way to fasten the paper firmly around the augmenters, so it won’t fall off in the night. I’ve never actually seen it done, but if you’re right and Drifa is somewhere in or around Cloudhaven, it might be possible to connect with her via your dreams. She might have some answers for you. If she’s anywhere we can reach her, we need her badly right now. I don’t think we’ve ever needed her more.”
“We’ll try tonight,” Anders promised, already thinking of his spot beside the fire, itching to get back so he could go to sleep, and maybe find his mother.
But Rayna had caught something in Hayn’s tone that Anders had missed. “You’re coming back with us, right?” she asked.
Slowly, regretfully, Hayn shook his head. “Now I know you’re safe, I’ll see if I can get close to the wolves,” he said. “It’s not safe for me to talk to them yet, but if I spot an opportunity, I have to be there to take it. They can’tkeep themselves separate like this—I have to at least try to reason with them. The longer everyone’s apart, the harder it will be to bring them back together. They’re supposed to be protecting the humans—assuming the humans want anything to do with them. And what’s the pack going to do, live out on the plains forever?” He shook his head again. “I don’t know whether the humansorthe wolves will be willing to talk, but I think it’s a good idea to at least know what the wolves are doing.”
He paused, though, pulling open his coat and reaching into one of the inside pockets. Now Anders could see that every time Hayn moved, his jacket swung—before he had left Ulfar, he must have stuffed it full of everything useful that he could carry.
He pulled out a little circular mirror of the sort Anders had seen the fancy citizens over on the west side of Holbard use. The mirror was inside a case that snapped closed to protect it. When you opened it, you could peer at your reflection and check... well, Anders didn’t really know what people checked, but it always seemed important.
Since he’d gone to Ulfar, though, Anders had learned there were more uses for a mirror than inspecting yourself.
Hayn turned it around so the twins and Sam could get a good look at it, and Anders saw the runes engraved inside the lid.
“Have you seen a mirror like this?” Hayn asked. “The ones matched with this are exactly the same—the engravings are identical. You said Drifa had a workshop at Cloudhaven—I never knew that. But if the rest of the set is going to be anywhere, it will be there. One of them was my brother’s.” He spoke the last word lightly, but he, Anders, and Rayna all exchanged a long glance. Felix now meant a lot to all of them, and his loss had left a mark on each of them in their own way.
“It’s a mirror for communication?” Anders asked.
