“Unwarranted? You can't kidnap babies! Or women. We rescued the two Sárkány women you had in the rooms near where you kept me.Andyou murdered my healer!”
“They would've been paid handsomely for their efforts. You, however, have no claim to this child. She is the heir to the Leyak throne now that Ross is gone.”
“Throne? Since when do you have a monarchy?” He was off his rocker. Ross had told us they had a democracy, with his family being voted in as leaders since they left their planet.
“I've been putting plans in place to change that. Beginning with my granddaughter, I'll unite our races under one rule, and we'll find a new home to begin again.”
Anthony stifled a laugh. I gave him a look, none of this was funny.
He made no efforts to lower his voice. “I'm sorry, Riley, but this guy is ridiculous, like he's trying to be some dramatic bad guy from a play or old movie.” He turned away from me and spoke to the room. “Get real, man. You can't win this! The standing Unseen army is descending on these caves as we speak. If that doesn't work, the council will send out a conscription and the full might of the Unseen will annihilate you. This is just ridiculous.”
“Do you think one Valkyrie and one warlock is the best I can do?” Dumadi's voice dropped. He was pissed. “You're not even supposed to be here, Supay.”
Anthony shrugged. “Sorry, dude. She's my lady and I'd follow her into Hell.”
“How do you know you didn't?” Dumadi laughed softly, but whatever magic he was using to project his voice made the chuckles bounce off of my eardrums like a throbbing headache.
“I’m done with this,” I said. “Let's find our baby.”
I strode forward, intent on checking out the entirety of the cave to see what all was in there. I found the far wall and just had to hope he'd used up his magical assistance in the other part of the cave and didn't have any more hidden walls.
Anthony zipped over to the wall nearest us and got a torch, then zipped back to me. I tried to watch him do it, but he moved too fast for my eyes to follow.
“Thanks,” I said when he joined me a few seconds later.
“I'll always be here for you, Coya. I know Elias and Axoular would be here too, they just couldn't grab you with me in the way.”
“I bet they're pissed,” I said with a grimace.They’re probably raging right now.
“You know they are.”
We made it to the back wall and found signs of someone camping out. It looked like Dumadi had been staying there. There was a pallet full of blankets and pillows, and clothes piled neatly up. Canned goods were stacked beside the bedroll, with a can opener and a box full of trash from the food he'd already eaten.
Judging from the smell coming from the closed pot beside that, he'd been down there a few days. “Eww, gross,” I said.
“Dumadi? Why are you hiding in here?”
“I'm not hiding. I've been waiting.”
“Waiting on what?” I asked.
“You.”
The torches all flickered out at the same time, and Anthony grabbed me and jerked me against the wall. A whizzing sound, followed by a thud on the stone by my right ear caused me to jerk my head. “I think we're being shot at.” I dropped to the ground and felt around. Anthony kept one hand on me, so he dropped with me. “Yep,” I said, finding his hand and putting the arrow I'd found into it.
Another whiz and thud right above my head. “Fudge.”
“Give us some light,” Anthony said.
“If I do, it'll give him light, too.”
“He can already see us somehow. We're just lucky he doesn’t have the best aim.”
“Follow me,” I said, shuffling to the side and grabbing a big handful of the blankets from Dumadi's bed before crawling forward as quickly as I could. Anthony rustled behind me.
When I got to what I hoped was the center of the room, I created a fireball and lit the blankets on fire. They wouldn't burn long, but maybe they'd give us enough light to find him. When Anthony realized what I was doing he zipped back and grabbed the rest of the bedding and clothes, piling them on top of the flames.
I stepped around the fire, painting myself as a giant bullseye, backlit by the flames, but I had a clear sight of the rest of the cave. Dumadi stood against the back wall, skin a vibrant blue, darker than Linna.
