We traveled down a narrow dirt road full of potholes and jagged rocks embedded in the ground. It snaked around mud-caked buildings with thatched roofs. They looked poorly made, or they'd been put up in haste. A bell rang somewhere, followed by a woman's voice yelling out names. Somewhere from a road or two away came the clanking of metal against metal.
"How long has this village been here?" I asked, just as my foot landed in one of the potholes.
"Be careful, you'll turn an ankle," Enoon said. "Our village was destroyed by a horrible fire. We sent out distress calls, but no aid came. We lost everything. Many lives. This place is temporary until we can rebuild."
Bastien's foot slid across some pebbles, and he righted himself. "It was a beautiful village. The loss was devastating."
Enoon patted Bastien on the back. "Bastien here saved us. Without supplies from Couve, our people would have starved."
I gave Bastien a bright smile. "He's definitely a saint."
"A little too sure of himself for his own good," Enoon teased. "But with a heart bigger than Throgward Canyon."
Bastien gave me a side-glance. "She has no idea what Throgward is."
Enoon nodded at a woman working in her garden. "Then I will assure her it is quite vast."
The villagers stopped whatever they were doing to stare at us as we passed. But there weren't many of them outside. Two children resembling Enoon followed beside us. The girl looked to be about ten and the boy maybe six, but they didn't have tusks.
"She's too thin to be a Sentinel," the boy said.
The girl smiled up at Demos, a dreamy look on her face. "Do you have a girlfriend?"
"You don't stand a chance," I told her. "He's smitten with a bird girl."
"I didn't ask you," she said and sniffed the air. "You smell."
I must reek. I'd kill for a bath but doubted there was indoor plumbing here.
Enoon waved his hands at the kids. "Shoo. Off with you. Check on your mother. Make sure she doesn't need anything."
"Pa, do we have to?" the boy whined.
The girl gave him a stern look. "Of course we do. Get moving." The two ran off, heading back the way they'd come.
"Is something wrong with your wife?" I asked.
Enoon's face scrunched up in confusion. "What is this wife?"
"She means partner," Bastien answered.
"Aye. She has the sickness." Enoon kept his eyes in front of him. "Most of the village came down with the disease."
"I'm sorry," I said, wishing I could tell him I had the recipe for the cure. Nana had warned me that the curers in the covens might not have all the items needed to make it. And I didn't want to give him false hope.
In a field just outside of the village was a large camp with rows of pod-like tents. The murmur of voices hung over pitched canopies. Smoke rose from somewhere in the center of them. As we neared, one of the guards, a buff Laniar with silver hair, turned and darted down a row of tents. I recognized the other guards from when they'd attacked Nick and me in one of the libraries. One was rust colored with horns, and the other was stocky with a partially bald head and bushy sideburns.
Enoon stopped at a line of small rocks stretching across the road. "We wait here until The Red invites us in."
Bastien and I came up to stand on Enoon's right side, and Demos on the left. "Why must we wait?"
"It's the agreement we made. No entry without permission. He protects the village and we leave him and his band alone."
I saw his hair, the color of fire, just over the tents before he came into view. The Red. His long, scraggly hair had been cut short, and he no longer had a beard, which made his large snout less noticeable. He actually looked younger and kind of good-looking in a feral way. His broad shoulders and thick neck and arms seemed even larger than the last time I saw him during the big battle in front of my home in Branford.
He had helped us fight Conemar and his band of evil Mystiks. The Red had come for his sister, Faith, and we lost her that day. I felt a connection to him after that. We both loved Faith, and her loss was painful. I touched her pendant hanging from a chain around my neck, and it clanked against the locket with Pip's feather inside. It didn't belong to me. I'd have to give it to him soon, and I knew when I did, I would feel the loss again.
"Gia," The Red said, approaching. "You've made it."
His gang trailed him.
The smile on his face was strange to me. I was used to it having a menacing scowl. Possibly finding Faith and losing her had changed him. They had been separated for so long only to reunite briefly during the battle. I'd think he would be angry at the world.
"It's good to see you," I said, uncertainty coating my words.
He laughed. "No need to be afraid. This is your army."
What is he talking about? An army? Me? No. Not happening. "My army? I don't think so."
"I see. You'll need time to get used to the idea."
"We appreciate you giving us refuge in your camp," Bastien interjected before I could completely freak out.
"It is our pleasure." The Red's eyes traveled over Demos. "You're a Sentinel. From Asile?"
"I am." Demos rested his hand on the hilt of his sword and eyed the men behind The Red.
"You needn't fear them," The Red said. "The others will be pleased to see you."
"What others?" Demos asked.
"Gia!" The sound of Jaran's voice almost made my knees buckle. My eyes went to where it originated. Jaran dashed across the field with Lei just behind him.
I covered my mouth with my hand, stopping a sob. They were alive. And they were here. All noises silenced. The voices around me sounded muffled. It was as if Jaran was moving in slow motion. I wanted to run to him, but my feet wouldn't take off.
Jaran finally reached us and caught me in a hug. I squeezed him back. "You're here. And alive." My heart swelled almost to bursting.
"I'm sorry if we scared you, but we couldn't send word." He released me. "You look horrible. What happened?"
"It's a long story," I said.
"Okay, tell me later." He winked.
Lei stopped in front of me. "Hullo, ducky."
Ducky? I hadn't heard her use that in a while. Not since she had her emotions subdued with a spell.
She wouldn't be the first to hug someone, so I dragged her into my arms. "I'm so happy to see you."
"I missed you, as well." Lei pulled away, her nose wrinkling. "What is that smell?"
"Wait-you seem normal."
She screwed up her nose again. "Define normal."
"Less drugged up," I said.
She raised her hand. The spell tattoo of a radiant lotus between her thumb and pointer finger was gone. "I decided it was better to feel something, no matter how painful, than nothing. And you are in dire need of a bath."
Demos put his arm around Lei's shoulder. "It's been maddening without you. I missed passing insults with someone."
She wrapped an arm around his back. "I think that's about the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."
"Arik mentioned you two went missing from the library," Bastien said. "What happened?"
Jaran's smile slipped, and his face went serious. "We were on our way out of the library when a band of guards and Sentinels pulled up in vans. They had Carrig. He'd been beaten and bound."
My stomach twisted at the thought of Carrig being hurt.
"We decided to fight them," Lei said. "It didn't look good for us. We were outnumbered. My lightning globe took several of them down. That was before one of their Sentinels figured out he could stop the flash by stunning it."
Jaran slid a look at The Red. "If it weren't for The Red and his gang, we'd be dead now."
The Red adjusted his stance. "Actually, it was a book faery who alerted me."
Aetnae? Or maybe it was another one, but my bet was on her. She did more than protect books from humans and natural forces, the nosy little faery. And I was thankful for that.
Lei turned to The Red and said, "We would have lost Carrig if you hadn't been there."
"And our heads," Jaran added.
My spirits jumped. "Carrig's here? Where?"
The grim look that passed between Jaran and Lei deflated all the excitement inside me.
"What is it?" My voice sounded as shaky as my hands. "He's not dead, is he?"
"No," Jaran said quickly. "He's injured but stable."
"I want to see him."
Lei shrugged Demos's arm off her shoulder. "Follow me. But first, you need a bath and some fresh clothes. Then I'll take you to him."
…
After I'd bathed, which was in an actual metal tub that several boys and girls filled with hot water, I followed Lei to Carrig's tent. The clothes Lei gave me to wear were epic warrior style. I decided to go with the long beige tunic top over leather pants, and boots. The rest of the gear I left on the mat in the tent assigned to me.
Carrig lay on a cot, blankets wrapped tightly around him.
I sat on the stool beside his cot and picked up his hand. It was warm and limp. His eyes closed, face slack, he looked peaceful. "Has he woken up since the attack?"
"No," Lei said. "He was out cold when we rescued him and has been this way ever since."