Jarrett bowed. "Thank you, Keeper. I will prove my loyalty to you by completing this task. I will bring you the bodies of the remaining dragons."
The Keeper's thin tongue licked his lips. "It's been so long since I had dragon flesh. I will await your quick return. Now, go back to your friends. Use them to fight the mage and take the dragon eggs."
"But my ears," Jarrett said. "They will know."
The Keeper closed his eyes and chanted under his breath. Jarrett felt a tingling on his head. His eyes closed, and his body relaxed.
A hand on his shoulder startled Jarrett. His eyes snapped open.
"You fell asleep," Bastian said, "but all appears to be okay. I'll take the next watch. Get some good sleep."
Jarrett looked around, confused. "Where am I?"
Bastian laughed quietly. "You really were in deep sleep. We're on the Isle of Repose. We're looking for the dragon eggs, remember?"
Jarrett's eyes searched the starlit ground. There were no footprints heading off in the direction of the hill. His hands searched his head, quickly finding his ears. He let out a long sigh of relief. It was just a dream.
Guilt poured over him. "I'm so sorry I fell asleep."
"It's okay," Bastian said, settling down next to Jarrett. "We were all exhausted. And we're fine. No one was dragged away in the dark of the night."
Jarrett let out an uncomfortable laugh. "Yeah, it appears so. Thank you." He stood, wiping the dirt off his pants.
Jarrett made his way into the copse and saw Elinor and Connor sound asleep on the ground. Jarrett spread his cloak between them and lay down. He hoped there wouldn't be any more nightmares.
***
"Wake up, Jarrett." Elinor shook his shoulder. "We need to get moving."
Jarrett sat up, shrugging off the hard night's sleep. He felt like he'd been sleeping for years, but he wasn't refreshed. Elinor handed him a piece of jerky and a hunk of bread. He ate both and washed them down with his water. He pushed the cork into the water skin and slung it over his shoulder. It was too light. They'd need to stop at the first freshwater source.
"We should head for the hill," Connor said. "See if we can find those sentries."
"No," Jarrett said, surprising everyone, including himself. "I think we should go east. I was thinking about it last night. The hill is the most obvious place to hide. Would Malachi really head there? He is devious. We should look in the least likely place first."
Elinor nodded in agreement. "My father would hide in the last place anyone would think of first. It's a sound plan."
The weary group hiked eastward as the sun climbed into the sky. The ground showed no sign of anyone passing by, much less one man with ten dragon eggs. They stopped for a midday snack at a pond teeming with fish. Connor and Bastian caught a few, which they roasted over a small fire.
After the sun hit its zenith and began its way back to the horizon, Jarrett felt another bit of inspiration. "Over there," he said, pointing at a mass of rocks. "He's there."
Bastian looked at Jarrett, then back at the rocks. "I don't see anything."
Connor and Elinor looked at Jarrett expectantly.
"I don't know," Jarrett said, shaking his head. "Something tells me he's hiding there." He wished he knew what that mysterious something was. He'd always trusted his instincts, but this was something different, as if someone was whispering in his ear, telling him where to go.
"Let's look," Elinor said. "It can't hurt."
They drew their swords, Elinor behind them and unarmed. She was only there to heal, not to fight. By her own admission, she had no experience in fighting, nor did she want to tempt fate by trying.
Jarrett took the lead, his sword in front of him, his hands steady and sure. Calm infused his being. He rarely walked into a potential battle so filled with peace. He rounded the boulders and gasped.
Malachi lay dead on the ground, his head cracked open and his brains splattered across the green grass.
Elinor pushed past Jarrett and sank to her knees. She checked Malachi over quickly, her head shaking. "He's dead." The words choked in her throat and tears filled her eyes. "Where are the eggs?" She stood and wiped her hands on her cloak.
"We can bury him," Bastian offered, his hand on her shaking shoulders.
"No. He's a traitor, and he died as one," Elinor said with a half-hearted shrug. "He's my father. It is my decision. I say we move on and find the eggs."
Jarrett put his fingers to his lips. The others quieted down. He waved his hand to the left, motioning them to take cover next to the boulders. Jarrett tiptoed around the boulders, finding an opening to an underground cave. "Maybe they're in here. There's only one set of footprints, which look to be Malachi's. Maybe the eggs are hidden in here and whatever killed him didn't touch them."