We all study the pile of draugrs.
“Sure, no problem,” Kaelen says.
“Not a chance,” Elianna says.
“Of course I can,” Chitai says.
I just keep singing but shake my head vehemently. Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, even though I’m the one who thought of it.
“Anyway, they’re all asleep.” Chitai shrugs. “Even if I land on them, we can escape through that back tunnel before they wake up enough to come after us.”
“This is a terrible idea,” I hiss, before I start singing again.
“It’s the only idea,” Kaelen says.
Before I can lodge a formal protest, whatever that might look like, they’re putting the plan into motion. Chitai leaps up on the wagon. Trick guides it closer to the draugrs, while Kaelen walks by the horses’ heads and soothes them into moving closer to large, scary monsters.
I shrug out of the bandolier and mime for Elianna to put it in the wagon, so the vials don’t clink when I run. She takes that and our horses’ reins from me and leads them, slow step by slow step, around the draugrs to the far side of the cave.
I’m so busy singing and trying to watch everyone at once that I almost don’t notice Sergeant Neville and Bern enter the cave, leading their own horses. When I see the amazement on their faces, I hold a finger to my lips and keep singing, hoping they’ll get my meaning.
Not only do they quickly figure out what’s happening, Bern gives his reins to Neville and jumps onto the wagon to help. He and Kaelen stand next to each other, and Chitai leaps up and lands lightly, one foot in each man’s cradled hands. The prince and Bern tense, preparing to hurl Chitai at the key, just when it occurs to me that maybe this key is exactly the same as the amulet and might set fire to any person who touches it.
I frantically wave my arms in the air, trying to get their attention. When I do, I yank the amulet out from beneath my shirt and hold it out with one hand, pointing to the key with the other.
I can see by his expression that Kaelen instantly understands what I’m trying to convey. He says something to Chitai, who grins and shrugs, then responds.
Then Kaelen and Bern bend their knees slightly, tense, and throw Chitai into the air toward the key. When they move, she moves, using her legs as pistons to soar high toward the ceiling of the cave.
My singing falters when she reaches out and grasps the key … and she has it!
And she’s not on fire!
She performs her somersault perfectly, just as she planned, and lands on the other side of the sleeping draugrs.
That’s when a huge rumbling sounds from the ceiling and I watch in horror as every single gem embedded in the stone—and there must be thousands of them—comes crashing down to the ground.
Onto the draugrs.
Who wake up.
And attack.
Travel often causes illnesses, both major and minor. When at all possible, avoid drinking from communal cups or socializing with any person who is coughing. Healers vary in both usefulness and cost from region to region, so buyer beware.
Recommendation: Bring a healer with you on your journey.
—A Poor Man’s Guide to Travel in Altarra,Mily Kinson
CHAPTER TWENTY
Iraise my voice, but it’s no use. The draugrs are awake and angry, and they’re all heading straight for me.
Kaelen leaps off the wagon and races in my direction, sword in hand, shouting something I’m too paralyzed with fear to understand. Bern is right behind him.
Chitai, on the other side of the cave, whoops a feral battle cry and holds the key up in one clenched hand. “I’ve got your key, monsters! Come and get me!”
First one, then two of the draugrs turn toward her, crashing into each other with unwieldy movements. They trip over their own stone feet, but it doesn’t slow them down much, let alone stop them.
