It’s fine. I have long sight remember? I don’t need to get close. Besides, I’m faster. They have to shift into guivre form before they can fly.
Her words don’t give me much peace, but we also really need to know. If that is truly what is happening, then we need all the time we can get to prepare.Okay. Be safe.
Always.
I make the walk back to the house with a million thoughts flying through my mind. When I get back, I see it’s just Taren on guard. “Where’s Reika and Jorren?” I ask.
He turns to me. “I sent them to cool off.”
“That’s good,” I tell him. I raise my arms in defense when he levels a look at me. “I went to cool off as well. Speaking of that, Redara and I took a flight. We didn’t see a single guivre.” I turn to face him, Kaldar’s close friend. “Taren, we didn’t see a single guivre, and that’s after we’ve been fighting dozens for the last few days.”
He studies my face, and I can see his mind racing. “You think they’re planning something.”
I nod. “Yeah. What if they’re gathering to make a full-on attack? I think you need to tell Kaldar and prepare your people.”
“If that were true, we’d need evidence, Harper. I’m not going to cause wide-spread panic on a hunch.”
“I know,” I tell him. “I’ve got Redara out there looking right now.”
He eyes me warily. “By herself?”
“She can take care of herself,” I remind him, even as my ownnerves continue to grow. “If we did find evidence that this could be happening, what would happen next?”
Taren stares at me, and I can practically see his mind whirring. “If they really are gathering, we’d be dead in the water. We’re not prepared against an all-out attack like that. We have our jaguars, yes; but they have guivres. Flying, fire-breathing guivres. Guivres versus jaguars? Guivres win every time.” He motions to the trees. ”That entire area would go up in flames in just the first few minutes. These houses behind me? All wood. Same thing. We’d try to get people out and send as many underground as we can, but we’d be prey just sitting here. It would be the death knell of our kingdom.”
I take in his words, even as Redara’s words fill my mind.You were right.
Chapter 42
I stare at Taren as her confirmation reverberates through me. “Redara just confirmed.” Taren stares at me.
“Confirmed what?” Reika asks, joining us.
Even as I face them, Redara feeds me information.They’re gathering at the edge of the Southern end of the kingdom. There are a lot of them. Right now, they’re mostly in human form. I didn’t stay long, but they look like they’ve been there for a while. They have tents, fires, and more.
I face Taren and Reika. “We have to talk to Kaldar.” Taren mutters something under his breath but leads me right inside. Rysden and Kaldar are talking, but they stop when they see us enter. A quick glance shows that Farrah isn’t present. My best guess is that she’s in the room with Kinsley.
Kaldar wastes no time when he sees the looks on our faces. “What is it?”
Taren looks to me, and I tell them. “The guivres are gathering at the Southern end of your kingdom.”
Kaldar shows no outward reaction to my words. “How do you know?”
“When Rauk and I did a fly-around, we found absolutely no guivres, which is crazy after how many have been attacking. Redara did a search and found them.” I pause, looking between the two men. “She said there are a lot of them, and it looks like they’ve been there for a little while.”
Kaldar wastes no time. “Call a meeting,” he says to Taren. Taren nods and disappears, and Kaldar turns back to Rysden.
“We will go home and prepare our soldiers,” Rysden says, his face stern.
Kaldar studies him a moment. “What if nothing comes of it?”
“We won’t make a move until we get the command from you.” Rysden pauses. “But I don’t think nothing will come of it.”
Kaldar gives a short nod. “I know.”
Rysden glances down the hallway and then back to Kaldar. “Kinsley can stay in our home if you want. I would leave guards behind.”
For the first time, I see the stoicism in Kaldar crack, and I see the emotion on his face. “I would if I thought she would go, but I don’t know that she will.”
