Page 64 of Sorcery, Swords & Scones
As Sass and the villagers walked back through the forest, shethought that maybe Florin had truly decided her ragtag bunch of friends wasn’t worth the effort to fight and Erindil wasn’t an elf worth crossing, but she hoped the dwarf had rethought what mattered in life. Knowing Florin, it was probably the former, but Sass could always hope.
When they cleared the forest, Sass stopped and turned to the group who continued to look shell-shocked by the encounter. Pip’s knuckles were white where he clenched the rolling pin, and TinPin’s blinking was such a blur she feared he might lift off the ground.
“We did it,” she told them with a tentative grin. “We scared off the hunting party.”
Then the group erupted in cheers as weapons were dropped to the ground and everyone danced and hugged. Vorto and Klaff trembled the ground with their exuberant jumping, and Pip and Fenni broke into the halfing two-step.
Val swept Sass into a tight embrace, whispering in her ear, “Youdid it.”
Sass’s feet dangled in the air, and she shook her head even as it nuzzled in the guard’s neck. “I couldn’t have done it without having my friends behind me—literally.”
Val laughed and lowered Sass so that her feet touched the grass. “We will always be here for you. I hope you know that.”
Sass bobbed her head as tears clouded her vision. “I do now.”
A screech pulled her attention from Val, and she blinked rapidly as she searched for the source. For a beat, she thought it might be Glen, but no ostrich was that loud. Besides, the sound that shook the trees came from overhead.
“Is that a…?” Pip tipped his head as he walked backward and straight into Fenni.
“Impossible.” Vaskel shook his head, as if to dislodge the image of the enormous wingspan blocking the sun.
“Please tell me that’s not a dragon,” Lira said.
“Oh, it most certainly is.” Her uncle's voice was almost cheery. “I haven’t seen one in centuries, and never in the Known Lands. This is unprecedented, my dears.”
Sass’s stomach dropped as the beast circled lower, letting out another terrifying screech. “Lucky us.”
Forty-Eight
The villagers scatteredas the sky darkened and the dragon swooped lower, its massive black wings stretching so wide they brushed the treetops on one side. Everyone in their party aside from Erindil backed away as the beast landed, its tree-trunk legs trembling the ground beneath their feet.
“What a beauty.” Erindil slipped off the back of Glen and rubbed his hands together with barely contained glee at the sight of the ebony, scaled dragon.
Sass’s attention was no longer riveted to the long-necked creature huffing steam from flared nostrils. It was on the figures sliding off the dragon’s back.
“Mum?” Sass squinted at the dwarf who descended first and was busy brushing off her moss-green travel gown. The woman’s dark braids wound intricately around her head, making her appear taller than she was, although she didn’t need to be tall to command attention. Everyone gaped at her.
The female dwarf looked up, the wrinkles on her brow smoothing when she spotted Sass. “There you are, Sarsaparilla!”
Despite running from her home, despitefleeing the Ice Lands, despite every reason she’d ever had for staying away, Sass ran to her mum and straight into her arms.
“Now, now.” Her mum patted her hair as she held her. “No need to fuss. We’re here now.”
At that, Sass pulled back and saw that her father was dismounting from the dragon’s back, landing in a crouch and straightening with a grunt. His gray fur cloak swung around his legs and matched some of the gray streaks in his black beard.
“It’s been a while since I’ve ridden on a dragon and never for so long,” he said under his breath as he knuckled the small of his back.
Sass forgot all her reasons for running from home as new questions flooded her brain. “How are you here? And where did you get a dragon?”
Her father stroked his wiry black whiskers as he gave her a quick once-over. “That’s not important, Sarsaparilla. Are you hurt? You didn’t wear that amulet, did you?”
“I’m fine.” Sass cocked her head. “But how do you know about the amulet?”
Her father’s expression darkened.
“He knows because of me,” Thrain said, stepping forward and giving both Thornshields a bow. “I used the rookery at Castle Greyhelm to sent a raven to the Ice Lands. It was the only way to ensure they knew what Florin had done, but I also knew you wouldn’t want me to alert your family, so I didn’t tell you. Sorry, Sass.”
Sass gawked at her friend. If it were possible to feel even worse for doubting him, she did.
