“I’m scared,” he admitted quietly.
“That’s okay,” she replied. “It’s scary.”
“Are you all right?” He glanced across at her—her eyes were still red, her face white.
“Not really,” she said. “But I will be. We both will be. You can do this, Anders.” She lifted her chin, as if she were saying something daring. “Your mother isn’t the only one who’s proud of you.”
She turned and walked back to where Rayna and Hayn were sitting together by the boulders, and when shesank down beside them, Hayn wrapped an arm around each of the girls.
Anders walked out to the middle of the circle to stand by the mirror and waited.
Out of everyone, he was the one who had betrayed the wolvesandthe dragons. He had to be the bait they saw, the one who would convince them to enter the circle.
Once they entered the circle, of course, they wouldn’t see anyone but themselves.
After a little while of watching the dragons arrow in toward them from above, Anders began to make out the smaller shapes of his friends out in front, and then Rayna called to him from her place by the rocks. “Over there! I can see the wolves!”
Their friends were racing toward them, visibly exhausted by the effort of staying ahead of the Wolf Guard. They were just managing it, though Ennar and a dozen of the Wolf Guard were in hot pursuit and not far behind them now.
The younger wolves went hurtling toward the rocks at the edge of the circle, then around behind the big pile of boulders where Rayna, Hayn, and Lisabet sat. Anders knew his friends must have turned to humans as soon as they crossed the line that Rayna had traced out with theStaff of Reya—but they made sure that Ennar and the Wolf Guard didn’t see it happen.
Ennar and the others pulled up some distance away, and while her followers growled low in their throats, Ennar slipped into human form. “Hayn,” she called, ignoring Anders, though she certainly had one eye on him, “what is this?”
Hayn’s voice was loud enough to carry, but calm. “This is me asking you to just wait a minute,” he replied. “It isn’t what you think.”
Beside Ennar, one of the Wolf Guard, a man Anders didn’t know, transformed as well. He jabbed a finger in Hayn’s direction. “He betrayed the Fyrstulf,” he shouted, looking at Ennar as though he couldn’t believe she wasn’t attacking already. “He delayed the search for augmenters. He deliberately slowed her down. That’s why she imprisoned him.”
Hayn didn’t raise his voice, but stayed calm. “We’ve been friends a very long time, Ennar,” he said.
“And that’s why I haven’t attacked yet,” she said, finally looking across at Anders.
“Professor Ennar,” he said, “we never meant for any of this to happen. You told us, when we were training at Ulfar, and when you attacked Drekhelm, that you woulddo anything to protect your students.”
“I think,” said Ennar slowly, “you are badly misunderstanding what I want to protect themfrom.”
But neither she nor Anders got any further. The wolf beside her broke in again, and this time when he shouted, he was pointing at the sky. “Dragons,” he cried. “Dragons overhead.”
By now, the dragons were circling in to land, touching down one after another, not far away. They stayed in draconic form—all the easier to breathe fire if they needed to—and began to move forward, drawing snarls, snaps, and growls from the wolves.
“Wait,” said Ennar warily, holding up one hand, though it wasn’t clear whether she was speaking to the wolves or the dragons.
Valerius, Torsten, Leif, and Saphira were out in front, and as each of them crossed the line into the circle, they suddenly, involuntarily, turned to humans. Behind them, Ellukka, Mikkel, and Theo slipped into their human forms, and walked across to join Hayn, Lisabet, and Rayna.
“What’s this?” Torsten demanded, looking down at himself in shock, as beside him, Leif politely offered Saphira her chair and helped her into it.
“This is treachery,” snapped Valerius. “This is betrayal.”
The wolves began to run forward, and as each ofthem crossed the invisible line, those who weren’t already human also transformed, suddenly finding themselves on two legs, stumbling to catch their balance.
“I can’t change back,” Valerius cried, staring down at himself.
“What have you done?” Torsten demanded.
“Ah,” said Leif calmly.
“I see,” said Saphira. “How fascinating. I wonder how far up it goes? You wouldn’t want to change in midair without expecting it.”
“Gosh,” murmured Anders, “I hadn’t thought of that.”
