Page 25 of The Fire Dragon's Mate
That was a heartbreaking thought. Had they captured him? Killed him? I covered my mouth and gulped back a burst of emotion that I’d been trying to resist for three days. Phineas reached out and held my other hand.
Suddenly, the cannon fire stopped and all was eerily silent. Our plan to search was waylaid by the need to check the mountain for breaches, in case they’d stopped bombing because they’d found a way in.
I went with Errol to check below ground, where the livestock and gardens were housed. I hadn’t been down there before now and my enthusiasm at the ingenuity present to bring sunlight to darkness was marred by expecting the enemy around every corner. But aside from finding Bromley clutching a horn and his sword at the only open doorway, we found nothing amiss.
Bromley gave the horn to Errol and returned to the main area with me. No breaches were found anywhere in the mountain, which only made us all wonder why our attackers had stopped.
We gathered in the center now and ate a simple meal of preserved foods so as not to send smoke up through the holes near the top of the mountain. Maybe if our attackers thought no one was in here, they would give up and leave? It was a small hope, but it was a hope.
Phineas outlined the plan, and I offered what I could remember about where the bag of explosives might be. That it wasn’t reflective at all unless it had fallen over and spilled its contents could be a problem since it would look like little more than a small boulder or lumpy shrub—of which there were plenty. But all agreed that we had to try and find it.
Adena, Tempest, and Melita agreed to help Reynard, Thane, and I with the search, while Phineas, Hagen, Warfield, and Severn would sneak down to the shore. We weren’t sure if the attackers would remain in the bay on their ships or if they would set up camp on the beach, but we hoped they might’ve chosen the latter. Swimming out to a ship wasn’t really an option given how cold they said the water was here in the south. If those wishing us harm weren’t on land, we wouldn’t be able to learn anything from them.
“Remember,” Phineas said as we huddled beside the doorway waiting for the sun to set, “if you must kill, make it swift and silent.” He demonstrated where to stab on himself, by holding the blade flat to get through the ribs and aiming for the lungs. I was horrified and impressed in equal measure.
“But please make an effort,” Melita said sternly, “to observe without interaction.”
“They still might not know we’re in here,” I added in agreement with her. “We don’t want to give ourselves away if we can help it.”
“Sure, do your best to go unseen,” Phineas said, but I wasn’t certain I believed him or that I disagreed with him. All ofus wanted to put an end to this situation, and maybe violence was the way to do that.
I’d trained in combat like my brothers before me, but I’d never excelled at it or done it without prompting. I’d enjoyed sports and being outdoors, but not the fight or the kill. I didn’t fully agree with the slaughter of animals to eat, if I was honest.
But if it came down to us or them, I wouldn’t hesitate. I couldn’t.
Dressed in dark clothing and with mud coating my hair, face, neck, and hands, I exited the mountain once the sun had well and truly set. The skies were clear, but the moon was a slim crescent, so it wasn’t easy to see. Which was good and bad, since the enemy might not be able to see us, but we also couldn’t see where we were going.
“Can I stay with you?” Melita asked me. “I don’t want to fall and break my leg by myself.”
I chuckled, thinking she was joking, and immediately slipped on something and nearly went down.
We headed around the base of the mountain to where the main entrance had been, figuring that might make the search slightly easier. I remembered going up to the entrance at an angle, so maybe we could go down from different angles and see what we could find.
It felt more and more hopeless the farther we walked. Even in the bright light of midday, we probably wouldn’t be able to see a sackcloth bag. At this rate, we would have to trip over it to find it.
Melita gasped beside me and grabbed my arm. I looked at her and saw torchlight coming our way. The person holding the torch was below us and seemed to be coming up this way. We had scant moments to find somewhere to hide. There was no way we could run.
I turned Melita toward what looked like a copse of scrubbytrees and gave her a shove. She went, and I turned to scramble behind a boulder. Hopefully, our disguises would help us blend in because I couldn’t tell if we were truly hidden or just thought we were.
Two men came into view. Sailors, swords at their sides, they walked with confidence but stopped several times to look around. Were they scouting the area or were they lost?
“There’s nothing up here,” a gruff voice said.
“How can anything survive on this wretched rock?” the other man asked. “Muldoon was lying.”
“If he lied about what he saw here, what does that say about King Wolfgang, hmm?”
Wolfgang? He was the king of Xanthous.
“That he’s a fucking idiot?”
The man with the torch pointed it at his fellow and said, “You watch your mouth, boy.”
“Or what?”
He turned his head sharply. “Shut up.”
“For fuck’s sake, he’s not agod. He’s just?—”
