Page 43 of Mad Dragon of Chaos

“What’s happened, Shey?” Rayne demanded.

“Caelan—”

The king’s name was barely out of his mouth when he heard Caelan in the background demanding the phone.

“What’s going on? What happened to Adrian?” Caelan barked.

“I don’t know. Haru and Adrian flew into the city while Tyche and I went to the palace to meet with the queen. There was a sound like an explosion, and then another nightmare swamped the city. We think Adrian and Haru have been separated. Can you feel Adrian?”

“Yes! He’s alive!”

Shey felt his knees go weak and his head spun. He must have wobbled because Tyche was right there, grabbing his arm and supporting him as he got his legs under him. He flashed Tyche a weak smile and mouthed that Caelan had confirmed that Adrian was alive. Tyche released him to sit down hard in the middle of the balcony. Apparently, the god’s confidence had been just for show a few minutes ago, and his relief now was very real.

“He’s in pain, but seems to be managing. He lost consciousness for a while, but I can sense him moving now.”

“Okay. Good. Is there any way you can see what he’s seeing? Do you have any sense of where he is in the city?”

A growl escaped Caelan. “A bit. It’s garbled. What I’m getting from him makes little sense, plus I don’t know Sirelis that well. We didn’t spend a lot of time walking all of it. If I fly there with Drayce, I’ll be able to pinpoint him.”

Shey’s stomach twisted. He could understand Caelan’s need to be on hand to help Adrian. “But it will still take you hours to reach here by dragon. I don’t know if Adrian, Haru, or Sirelis have that long to wait. Tell Rayne and me what you see. There isn’t a single place in the city that we haven’t visited.”

There was a long silence in which Shey’s hopes sank. It wasn’t as if he could order King Caelan, the God of Hope, to do as he asked. He couldn’t wait for Caelan’s arrival. They needed to do something now.

“The streets are smooth. Asphalt. Not cobblestone.”

Shey almost choked on his sigh of relief as the first slow words came from Caelan. He shoved aside his rising joy to focus on what he said.

“The most prominent spots in the city without cobblestone are the warehouse district and the poor quarter.” Rayne’s voice came through loud and clear. Caelan had put the phone on speaker so his advisor could hear everything they discussed.

“There was also a section of the harbor that was resurfaced from cobblestone to asphalt a couple of years ago,” Shey chimed in.

“The buildings are brick. Tall, but not too tall. Four, five stories. Close together. No, now it’s all trees. A forest. How did he get into a forest?”

Shey scowled at the phone. “A forest?” This didn’t make any sense.

“The nightmare.” Tyche’s words jerked Shey’s attention to him. He was standing near the railing of the balcony, looking toward the city, but he was listening to what he could hear of the conversation.

Shey lowered the phone and tapped the button to put it on speaker so Tyche could hear everything. He walked over to him and held the phone between them. Tyche offered a weak smile before turning his gaze to the city.

“No, the forest is gone. Buildings. Narrow streets.” Each time Caelan spoke, it sounded as if each word had to be pulled painfully from his throat.

“Can you see cars? Are they all pointed in the same direction?” Rayne demanded.

“Yes.”

“Poor Quarter!” Rayne and Shey said at the same time.

Officially known as Ash Row, it was one of the older parts of Sirelis that had never seen great renovations like many other districts. All the buildings were narrow and built close together. In addition, most of the streets were also slender, designed for horses and carriages rather than cars. Because of its older, faded appearance, the housing was much cheaper there than anywhere else in the capital, making it the unofficial Poor Quarter.

“The nightmares seem to get worse as he travels,” Caelan cut in.

Tyche grunted. “He’s trying to get to Haru.”

“Cael, work with Rayne. See if you can work out a specific location, whether it is by the name of a shop or a street. Text me what you learn. Tyche and I are going to cut through the city to pick up Adrian so we can take him to Haru.”

“Okay. Report back when you can.” Caelan ended the call, and Shey shoved the phone into his pocket. He reached for Tyche to pull him along, but the God of Luck stepped away, frowning.

“What?” Shey almost choked on the question. There was something in his expression that chilled Shey to the bone. The god was about to say something he didn’t want to hear.