As requested,the group stopped for the evening at an inn and set out at dawn the following morning, a pattern they intended to repeat for the rest of theirtravels.
Several days into the trip, they rode (flew?) through the rise of the sun—though as Angelique cast a glance at the sky, she could still see the hint of brilliant orange on the bluehorizon.
Odette, Misha, and Nadia were blobs of white against the sky. The few clouds that dotted the sky were higher than the swans, and thin andwispy.
At least, mostwere.
Angelique frowned as she saw the gray haze they were closing in on. She had initially assumed it was clouds that would clear with the morning sun. But the haze was darker and much lower than the other clouds, and it drifted with thewind.
Suspicious, Angelique sniffed the air.Is that the faintest smell of smoke? Or am I mistaking the scent in myparanoia?
“Pegasus.” She had to raise her voice to be heard above the swift cantering pace the constellation had set. “Do you smellsmoke?”
Chapter 25
Pegasus slowed to a walk,then lifted his head high, snorting as he inhaled and exhaled loudly through flared nostrils. He pranced as he adjusted his body so he was looking directly at the smoke and braced his legswide.
When the flames of his mane grew, Angelique peered up at the sky and whistled. It took a few notes before she got the Black Swan Smugglers’attention.
They circled low above her, and she pointed to the cloud of smoke. “We’re going to check thatout.”
Odette, Misha, and Nadia must have understood, for they regained their lost altitude and course-corrected for thesmoke.
Angelique stroked Pegasus’ neck. “Let’s look intoit.”
Pegasus threw himself back into the canter with more enthusiasm than necessary, jostling Angelique in thesaddle.
She crouched low and allowed herself a moment of delusion.Maybe it’s just a farmer burning his fields or clearingunderbrush.
But as they drew closer, Angelique could see it was a large fire that belched smoke into the sky. The fire roared through what looked like a small village, consuming the timber frames of the brickhouses.
The smoke stung Angelique’s eyes as Pegasushalted.
The constellation screamed a challenge and reared back on his hind legs, the stars in his coatburning.
“Pegasus! Careful, please.” Angelique clung to the saddle as she tried to extend her senses and feel for any magic in thearea.
He bolted a few steps when a man riding a lathered horse emerged from the smoke. He wore a soldier’s uniform and was barely in control of his mount as the animal shied andwhinnied.
The soldier saw Angelique and managed to slow his horse, though he had to turn it in a tight circle. “He’s right behindme!”
“Who?”
“The mage who did this!” The soldier gestured to the village consumed byflames.
It must be Carabosso.Angelique yanked on her magic, already spinning it into a spell. “Is there anyone left in thetown?”
The soldier shook his head. “No one alive. The villagers alreadyfled.”
Her silvery magic circled around Pegasus before sweeping up the constellation’s side and rubbing against her arm. Angelique grit her teeth against it, but gathered it into her spell, making it more powerful. “Go after them. I’ll see what I can do to stop the mage. But send word to the nearest Magic Knight of Sole.Hurry!”
The soldier saluted her, then loosened his reins. His horse was off like loosened lightning, the whites of its eyes showing as itfled.
Angelique closed off her prepared spell and started weaving another as she glanced down at Pegasus. “Company is coming, myfriend.”
Pegasus struck the ground with his front left leg, shedding a wave ofsparks.
“I’m not thrilled, either,” Angelique agreed. “But I can’t let Carabosso rununchecked.”
