The air around them was humid and sticky as they left the airport—the entire trip had been humid and sticky compared to Coral Shores this time of year, but the little island felt downright tropical in comparison. They managed to grab a taxi without too much trouble, and by the time they arrived at the start of the hiking trail, Florian thought it was a little less humid out, though how much of that was wishful thinking, he couldn’t say.
The driver gave them an odd look as they shuffled out to the entrance of the trail, certainly wondering why they’d gone straight from the airport to a hike. But he was perfectly polite and said nothing of it, wishing them well after Florian paid their fare.
In the late afternoon, the trail was active but not especially crowded, so they could walk with another group in sight ahead of them but still far out of earshot.
“Do you think there’s really someone living out here guarding the curtain like yours?” Florian asked, thinking of Nan, who had greeted them to the far north of Nunavut when they had gone to the wolf kingdom. That was only a few months ago, but it may as well have been years. “It doesn’t seem like the kind of place where someone could just... live.”
“There must be someone,” Kade replied. “Or at least there was the last time Jerah went through. He didn’t like going to the dragon kingdom, though, so it may have been a long time.”
“Do you know why he and the dragon king didn’t get along?”
Kade was quiet for a moment, considering.
“Not sure,” he finally answered. “But I’d guess because both the dragon clan and the kraken clan cared more about protecting themselves than trying to find a solution that would save everyone. He always said they were short-sighted.”
“Thatisshort-sighted,” Florian muttered, but it was the least of his worries. The dragon king had at leastknownJerah—what chance did he, Jerah’s new and unknown replacement, have of getting any help from their clan?
That, too, was a large part of why he felt so nervous. The mission felt doomed from the start, but not going wasn’t an option. There were supposed to be two Arrows in the Blight near the dragon kingdom; and they needed somewhere close by to enter the Veil, something like a base of operations to figure out where to go and how to get there. Help—anyhelp—would be a bonus, but Florian wasn’t counting on it.
Ahead of him, Kade chuckled and glanced back over at him. “Yeah, but I get it. They only have so many resources. They want to protect their own. The Winter Court ended up with a lot fewer people in it than anywhere else that survived, so Jerah had enough that he could worry about everyone else. They didn’t get that.”
Florian frowned. The thought hadn’t occurred to him, and he wondered how much bigger the dragon kingdom might be than the Winter Court. He had often found himself dwelling on how small the population of the Winter Court was now that he was in charge of it—wondering how it had survived this long, and how much longer it might go on with so few inhabitants. But having more people to worry about feeding and housing would definitely be a stressor, maybe even moreso than worrying about a dwindling population.
“I guess that makes sense,” he replied begrudgingly. “Still. I don’t think we’re asking for a lot. It doesn’t need to be him. He could have sent anyone to help my dad. He could send anyone to help us.”
“That is true,” Kade agreed. “Let’s hope that maybe he sees it that way now.”
Florian sighed, nodding. The trail had begun with a lengthy, meandering wooden stairway, so he was breathing a little hard already. But the path was only becoming more steep now, so he focused on keeping his feet moving. The full hike was long and difficult, but luckily, the path looped around on itself near the base of the hill so they could quickly head to the peak without needing to walk the entirety of the trail.
“Look,” Kade said, bringing up the map on his phone. “There’s a clearing near the peak, and then north of it...” He zoomed in. From the satellite view, it was impossible to see any of the trail through the thick tree cover. But north of the peak where there was some sort of rest area, Florian could make out a patch of the green that seemed dark and indistinct, almost like the trees dipped down—like a pit carved neatly in the forest. “That looks weird. I bet it’s around there.”
“Maybe,” Florian said, uncertain. “You don’t think the guard lives in one of these little house things at the top?”
“I doubt it,” Kade said, shaking his head. “If their setup is anything like ours, they wouldn’t have their guard so obvious. They would keep it much more remote. Plus, that looks like about a quarter mile to me, like Jerah said.”
Florian took the phone, Kade relinquishing it without comment. He zoomed in closer, wishing he could somehow see through the dark, pixelated greenery, but it was too indistinct to make anything out. And when he looked at the rest area at the peak, he doubted anyone would live in any of the small buildings he saw there—he guessed it was maybe a restroom and some kind of storage for the groundskeepers. It didn’t look like a place where anyone could live, and if the curtain was further into the forest, it wouldn’t make for a very good lookout from so far away. Kade was probably right.
“Yeah,” Florian said, handing the phone back to Kade. “I trust you.”
Kade smirked. “But I could be wrong. Just my best guess.”
The trail continued to narrow, and Kade had to duck beneath a silvery spider web with a massive, black-and-yellow spotted spider right in the middle of it. Florian eyed it nervously, but it remained unmoving as they passed beneath its web. Still, he kept an eye out for more as they proceeded up the path.
Although they were taking the shorter path up to the peak, there were several difficult spots and steep ascents with ropes tied to wooden stakes in the ground to help them ascend. Despite the challenge, it was a short route, and before long the dense forest around them widened into a clearing: the area they had seen at the peak on the map. Now that they were here, the buildings appeared to be some sort of guard station. Florian barely glanced at them now, all his attention on the view as they arrived at the peak. From this high, they could see the ocean clearly, surrounding them on all sides.
“Wow,” Florian said softly, turning in a slow circle to take it in.
“Nice view,” Kade agreed, also looking around. “Want to take a little breather here?”
“Yeah,” Florian said, smiling gratefully up at him. There were benches set about, so they found an empty one and sat facing northward. Kade hardly seemed phased, but Florian panted for breath for a little while, and his skin was sticky with sweat.
“See anything?” he asked, as his heart slowed to a more normal pace. Kade peered ahead into the woods, but said nothing for a long while.
“No,” he finally answered, still looking toward the trees. “Just the forest. But I didn’t really expect to see anything anyway.”
Florian turned toward where Kade was looking, his eyes searching the treeline and the shadowy forest beyond. It didn’t look any different from the forest they had just been traversing. Jerah’s note said it would be a quarter mile in, but he still wished they had any sort of hint as to what they might be walking into.
“Ready when you are,” he sighed, standing and shouldering his backpack again.
