“Keep in the middle of the group,” said Viktoria, as the six of them moved off. “Try to blend.”
Det joined them as they passed him, white teeth flashing against his dark-brown skin as he shot Anders one of his easy grins. “If Sak was snoring that loud, you could have just switched rooms,” he said in his easy Mositalan accent, putting himself between Anders and the gate guards. “I know he was a messy roommate, but you didn’t have to run away over it.”
“Hey!” Sakarias protested, but there wasn’t any heart in it. Det’s words were the first any of the wolves had offered without an edge of suspicion, and Anders was more grateful for the trust than he knew how to say. Perhaps Det could see things differently than the others because he’d grown up outside Vallen, without stories of wolves and dragons from the day he was born. In the end Anders didn’t say anything, but he tried to find a smile for Det, even though he knew it was weak.
Lisabet was whispering with Viktoria and Mateo about which aisle she wanted to try first, and when the group entered the library, Mateo peeled off to walk straight over to the librarian. She looked up, surprised to see students at this hour. “Did you all forget to do your homework?” she asked, amused.
“Something like that,” Mateo said. Anders could hear him as they hurried toward the back of the library. Mateo was big and strong and always looked calm, and some people thought he wasn’t clever just because he was quiet. Anders knew better than that, but the other boy was using that impression to his advantage with the librarian, talking in circles, pretending not to understand her answers, and keeping her completely diverted from the rest of the group.
When they reached the aisle they wanted, Det and Viktoria took up guard positions at each end of it, and Lisabet, Sakarias, Anders, and Jai made their way down the shelves. Lisabet issued quiet orders, and they all pulled down the books she wanted, laying them out in a row on the ground so she could crawl along it, opening each in turn and flicking through it.
Anders had always known Lisabet was clever, but now she was moving at the speed of lightning, flicking through pages, darting back and forth between books, comparing paragraphs, murmuring to herself under her breath. Looking for the places the wolves considered their greatest sources of power.
“Almost all of them are in the north,” she said, focusing on one book, which had a map of the top part of Vallen. “Makes sense, that’s where it’s coldest.”
Anders kneeled down beside her, laying out Drifa’s map so they could compare it to the one in the book. Sakarias and Jai joined in, helping point out the places that showed up on both.
“It has to be one of these,” Lisabet said. “It wouldn’t be hidden in a place that isn’t even marked on the map.”
“What wouldn’t be hidden?” Sakarias whispered.
“An artifact that will help keep the weather even, we hope,” Anders said quietly. “Not too hot, not too cold. Safe for everyone. We don’t want to help anyone win, we just want to keep us all safe.”
Sakarias looked like he wanted to argue, but Lisabet leaned down to the page. “The riddle says ‘through spray so high and wind so cruel,’ so one of these places on the coast...”
“Here.” Suddenly, Anders saw it. “Look, the Chelle Islands, off the coast in the very northeast. The riddle says ‘they might be crumbs, or scattered jewels,’ we haven’t been paying enough attention to that bit. That’s exactly what the islands look like. And they have lots of coast, lots of spray, and they’d be windy, out there in the middle of the sea. Is there anything in the book?”
Lisabet was already flicking through the pages. In a soft, excited voice, she read out the entry when she found it: “It says, ‘The Chelle Islands, also historically known as the Sainelle Islands, from the Old Vallenite word for “wayfarer,” “adventurer,” or possibly “discoverer,” were home to colonies of wolf scholars in centuries past. They located their bases in the islands because of the high natural concentration of essence there. Essence is the natural force channeled into artifacts to imbue them with magic, and—’ Yes, yes, we know this bit, what else? ‘Although the islands have been abandoned for centuries due to their unreliable weather and difficult living conditions, they are considered an important and powerful part of the Ulfar pack’s history.’”
“‘Home to mighty strength,’” Anders said, echoing the riddle. “That’s the place.”
“You’re making absolutely no sense,” Jai told them, peering down at the book. “But this is what you need?”
“This is it,” said Lisabet, standing to start putting the books back on the shelves. “Let’s go.”
They were quiet as they walked past Mateo and the librarian, who barely spared them a glance—she was busy drawing Mateo a diagram now, a hint of desperation in her tone, as he nodded slowly. Out in the hallway they could hear the distant sounds of the dining hall emptying, and they hurried in the other direction. Sakarias had chosen their meeting place well—they were around the back of the Academy buildings, hidden from almost everyone, and if they made good time they’d get over the wall without anyone spotting them.
Anders spoke quietly as they made their way outside, and around the building. “Is my—” He bit his tongue. He’d almost said “my uncle.” That was how he thought of Hayn now. “Is Hayn okay?”
“We don’t know,” said Det, soft and worried. “We heard he’s shut in his rooms, but you know he doesn’t teach our year, so we’re just getting rumors. We tried asking Professor Ennar, and she said we should keep our noses out of trouble, but she looked really worried.”
“Speaking of rumors,” said Jai, just as soft, “they’re saying the artifact we stole from Drekhelm is making it colder. That Sigrid has a plan.”
Anders and Lisabet exchanged a long look. “She does,” Anders said. “And we think her plan is an attack. If that happens, wolves will die too.”
Mateo jogged up to join them, adding his bulk to their protection. “Well, that’s going to take a while to live down,” he muttered. “Get what you needed?”
Anders nodded, but Det was speaking. “Perhaps we would be in danger if Sigrid had us attack the dragons. But if we don’t, they’ll attack us first.”
“No!” Lisabet insisted. “That’s exactly what we’re trying to prevent.”
“Lisabet... ,” said Sakarias, doubtful.
“She’s right,” said Anders. “Whatever you think about Lisabet’s ideas about dragons, it’s a lot more complicated than we thought. Alot.”
Lisabet’s lips were pressed together in a thin line, and she looked down. “You’d think that of everyone, I’d be the one who could figure out where she’d hide it,” she said quietly. “But I have no idea. I don’t know her as well as I thought I did.”
Before anyone could reply, Jai grabbed Anders’s arm, and the seven of them slowed to a stop as two adult guards rounded the edge of the building, making their patrol. Anders kept his head down, hoping his gray cloak would mask him in the middle of the group.
