“Hey,” I said. “What’s your name?” I glanced nervously at the smoke, now so thick it covered the rooftops, blotted out the sky. We had minutes, maybe until it was upon the streets.
He shook, unable to speak.
“That’s okay.”Calm, Niamh. Stay calm. “I’m Niamh, and do you want to know a secret?”
The child nodded, sniffling.
“I don’t know this town very well, but I heard all the children here have a fun hide-and-seek game that they like to play. Have you ever played hide and seek?”
“Yes,” the boy said in a small voice.
“Can you show me your favorite hiding spot?” I asked in a conspiratorial voice, trying my damndest to not look up at the smoke.
He wiped his nose with the back of his arm, then grabbed my hand and led me along the sidewalk, now empty of anyone but the royal guard, all of them carrying torches and wearing scarves over their faces instead of their characteristic helmets.
The boy walked slowly, painfully so, and I kept my gaze forward, heart thundering with every step. He veered into a small alley between two buildings and tugged me toward a little crawlspace in one of the buildings as the smoke hovered right over my head.
“Where does this lead?” I asked as he got down and crawled into it.
He shrugged. “Don’t know.”
This might have been a really bad idea, but the smoke was descending upon us and we were running out of options.
I got on my hands and knees and followed the boy into the dark space, hoping this led deep enough to get away from the worst of it. Dust and dirt mingled in the air, and I wondered if this tunnel led under the building since it felt like we were crawling down.
“No one can ever find me,” the boy whispered from somewhere in front of me. “I always win.”
“This is a very clever hiding spot,” I encouraged.
Eventually he stopped crawling, and I bumped into his little body. He sat with his knees curled up to his chest. His arms trembled as I settled next to him, resting my back against the rough wall. I was exhausted and scared and uncertain, but I couldn’t show any of that to him.
“This isn’t a game, is it?” he asked in his small voice.
“No, it’s not,” I said, “but we’re safe here.” I paused. “Have you ever played knights and dragons?”
He paused. “Once, but I wasn’t very good at it. This girl in my classalways got to be the dragon, and I could never get her with my sword. She was too fast and big.”
I loved playing knights and dragons when I was little. Ashami and I would play together, but she was always the knight, the one protecting me from the dragon.
“Well, today,” I said, “you were the knight.”
“But I didn’t defeat a dragon.” I could hear the confusion in his voice, and it made me smile.
“No, but you led a fair maiden to safety against wasp dragons. You know, legend has it that the wasp dragons are descended from the mighty dragons who used to roam our lands thousands of years ago.”
“The ones the godwitches rode?” the little boy asked, voice full of awe.
“Yes,” I said. “I learned about it from a book.”
After the brotherhood had used the wasp dragons to attack Bergenay, I’d read all I could about them, hoping to be ready, should they ever attack again, and I learned that their red smoke evolved from dragon fire, the poison having similar effects on the body to smoke—with a few added dangers.
“Wow. I saved us from dragons,” he said. “Real dragons.”
“Yes you did,” I said. “And you’ll be able to go home soon and tell everyone about it.”
He laid his head against my arm, and soon his soft snores filled the tunnel.
Some time later, far in the distance, shouts rang out, the city bells ringing. “They’re gone! Fairwitch Isle is safe, but please stay in your homes until the smoke is clear.”
