Page 226 of Of Masks and Fury

An arrow grazed my shoulder. I barely felt it, too focused on getting Isi to safety. She stumbled once, her head wound making her movements less certain than usual, but she kept going.

We reached the dragons, and I helped Isi onto Lakast’s back, settling behind her. The others mounted quickly, Gavelle and Pherin shifting to their smaller forms to fly up into the sky.

“Go!” I shouted.

The dragons launched skyward as rocks and arrows filled the air. Lakast’s wings thundered, carrying us away from the villagers.

I wrapped my arms around Isi, holding her tight as we climbed. Gavelle’s fierce satisfaction flamed through me.

Once we’d gained enough altitude to be safe from pursuit, Coralee brought her dragon alongside ours.

“How?” I called over the wind.

“I disguised myself as a peasant woman and walked into town, shouting about selling mushrooms,” she called back. “My companion scouted until we found the shed. I couldn’t break the dampening wards, so I had to get creative.” A fierce grin crossed her face. “I caused a little distraction. Then I tackled someone and convinced them to show me where they hid the key.”

“You came for us alone,” Isi said, wonder in her voice.

“We couldn’t risk more of us, and we weren’t leaving you behind.” Coralee’s ermine climbed back to her shoulder. “We need to address provisions for the prisoners. When we reach them, some will be in no condition to go without food.”

“We can raid the castle’s kitchens,” Naveah said.

Coralee’s eyes lit up. “I like that idea.”

“Then we’ll incorporate that into our plan,” I said, and everyone nodded.

We flew hard, putting distance between us and the village. Only when we’d cleared the immediate danger did I let myself examine Isi’s head wound. The bleeding had stopped, and the injury was already healing.

“I’m fine,” she said, reading my concern.

“You’re not. But you will be.” I touched her face, desperate for the contact. “We need to discuss what comes next.”

Malcolm brought his dragon close enough we could hear him when he shouted. “We’ve lost time. The Day of Mercy is tomorrow afternoon.”

The words settled like rocks in my gut. There was no time to rest or recover. We’d have to fly straight through and carry out our plan exhausted or not at all. And once we’d rescued them, we had to turn around and flee toward Syllavar.

“Can you do this?” I asked Isi quietly. “Tell me true. Can you make this flight and participate in this mission with your head wound? Because if you can’t, we’re?—”

“I’m doing this.” Her jaw set with that familiar stubbornness. “I’m not stopping.”

“We don’t have time to be tired,” I said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “We have time to save them or time to let them die. Choose.”

“Save them,” Maddox said immediately.

“Agreed,” Malcolm said with a sharp nod.

Coralee grunted. “I refuse to let them kill people with magic.”

Isi leaned back in my arms. “We’ll finish what we started, then.”

Twenty-three lives depended on us reaching Caldrith before tomorrow afternoon. The plan would have to be simple, fast, and more desperate than we’d originally designed.

But we’d do it anyway.

Because the alternative was unthinkable.

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

ISI