Page 43 of The Shadow Path
“That’s a ridiculous request that I have no intention of keeping,” Dru said. “And neither does Carys. We’re not your confidantes.” He nodded at the street. “Go. Cause your little mischiefs, whatever they might be.” Dru took Carys’s hand and drew her away from Branwen. “We’ll be off.”
As Dru pulled Carys back from the sidewalk and into the restaurant, she kept her eyes on the black-haired woman untilshe melted into the passing foot traffic along Knightsbridge Road.
She looked up at Dru. “What’s the rush?”
“There’s trouble on the other side of the gate,” Dru said, his voice grim. “The dragon is not pleased.”
CHAPTER TEN
Walking back into the darkness, Carys could hear the wisps screeching in high, panicked voices.
“What the hell happened?”
Was Laura okay? What about Duncan?
“The moment you took the Crow Mother through the gate and her magic waned, the dragon could sense you.” Dru cocked his head. “From the sound of it, he is expressing his displeasure at your absence.”
They rushed through the twists and turns of the Night Bridge passage to emerge in the narrow, dark alley where a pile of broken crates smoldered into ash.
“Cadell?” Carys reached out in her mind.Cadell!
Nêrys?Cadell’s mental call was more of a bellow.Where are you?
“Come on!” Dru shouted. “Between your dragon and Dafydd’s, they’re about to start a war.”
I am fine! Calm down!
There was a roaring sound in her head but nothing intelligible.
The moment they stepped onto the main road that led toward the river and under the bridge, Carys saw what Dru was talking about.
The troll market was in chaos.
Market stalls were overturned, and in the distance, Carys saw two dragons perched on the stone archway of the bridge, roaring into the foggy night as smoke billowed around them and tents and ramshackle buildings burned.
Cadell, calm down. I am fine. The Crow Mother ambushed me at the banquet, but Dru went with me to fulfill my bargain and now I’m back.
Where are you?
I am with Dru.
Stay with the fae until I can find you.
She didn’t know how he’d find her in the confusion and chaos of the burning troll market.
Furtive creatures lurking in the shadows had emerged, and what had previously passed for some kind of order had burned to the bone.
“Come on!” Dru grabbed Carys’s wrist in his right hand and dragged her through the chaos. He had a silver saber in his left hand, and as they walked, he brandished it at more than one hulking monster that emerged.
Anything that could fly was already gone, and the air was still and dark save for the flicker of dragon fire. The lane was covered with smoldering canvas tents, aluminum pop-ups from the Brightlands, and a collection of old patio umbrellas.
“Where are we going?”
“I’ll take you to the dragon.” Dru looked up at the tall buildings on either side of the market. “He won’t be able to fly through here.”
Some trolls were swiftly packing their wares, trying to avoid notice and get away, while others seemed to have taken thedragon’s violence as permission to wreak their own kind of havoc. There were thieves scurrying about, shoving whatever they could find into sacks or stuffing things down their shirts.
Humans and magical creatures bound in chains had wrapped those bonds around the necks of their captors or were actively fighting against those who had captured them.
