Breath of Dragons (A Pandoran Novel)

by Barbara Kloss

  My heart sank. "It's a black arrow," I said to Alex. Our poor horse. And poor us, if we didn't lose them soon. There was no way the three of us could ride on Vera's horse. Our horse struggled up the hill, foam already forming at his mouth. Not good. Then our horse slowed and stopped.

  Another arrow landed with a snick and our horse lurched forward. The fletching of a black arrow stuck straight out of his neck. Our horse's front legs bent as he skidded forward, and Alex and I leapt out of the saddle right as our horse dropped to the ground. My heart ached from the pain coursing through the horse's body, but then Alex gripped my hand and jerked me to my feet, bringing me back to our current danger.

  Vera and her horse had stopped right beside us, her horse panting. And then I realized we were standing at the edge of a ravine, which must have been the real reason our horse had stopped in the first place. The ravine was much too steep for horses, and the three of us couldn't ride off on Vera's.

  We were trapped.

  Chapter 19

  Alliances

  Vera dismounted. "We have to climb down."

  Alex's and my horse lay on the ground, wheezing and making horrible sounds that made me feel dreadful.

  "Hurry!" Vera was already over the edge.

  Alex grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the horse, and the three of us began climbing down the steep rock face. Our boots slid and hands flailed in desperate attempts to keep from tumbling down, and the rock wall was just high enough to make such a tumble potentially fatal, or at very least make one acquire an impressive collection of broken bones. It was difficult seeing in the dark, though the moonlight highlighted shadows and some of the steeper sections. I could hear the riders overhead. They'd reached the edge of the ravine and were murmuring to one another. A few of them dismounted and began climbing down after us. There was one good thing about them following us into the ravine: The other riders were no longer shooting arrows at us.

  "You can't escape!" Rakken's voice echoed through the ravine. "Surrender now, and we might let your friends live."

  I might have been naïve about some things, but I wasn't stupid. We continued to scramble down the ravine, sending rocks and loose gravel clattering down. I heard a crunching sound below and looked; there were three more riders waiting for us at the foot of the ravine. We were surrounded.

  In my distraction, I missed my next step and I went tumbling. Rocks tore at my hands and cloak, digging into my back and elbows. I flailed to grab hold of anything, but everything I grabbed slid down with me. Luckily, we'd already climbed about halfway down, and it wasn't long before I was thrown flat on my stomach onto the floor of the ravine, coughing and choking and hurting. My hands were raw and bleeding, and spots on my legs and tailbone felt unusually tender. Before I could even catch my breath, one of the guards who had been waiting for us down here grabbed me by the hair, jerked my head up, and shoved a blade against my throat.

  "Hold it right there," he growled at Alex and Vera, who were just now getting to the bottom of the ravine.

  Alex had been reaching for his sword, but when he saw the blade at my neck, his hand stopped. "You can't hurt her," Alex hissed, furious, his hand hovering near the hilt.

  "No, I can't kill her," the man continued. "But I can hurt her pretty good and make you watch."

  Alex's expression turned murderous, his eyes flashed with violence. Left with no other choice, he moved his hand away from the hilt of his sword and turned out his palms to show that they were empty.

  "Good, now back away," said the guard.

  Reluctantly, Alex moved the slightest step back, and then the men that had been climbing down after us caught up, pinning Alex and Vera's arms behind their backs. They didn't even try to fight back because there was still a knife against my throat. The guard yanked me to my feet and I cried out softly in pain. It felt like he was going to rip my hair out.

  "I got her, Rakk," my captor yelled, pulling me back against him. The metal dug into my neck so deeply I was afraid to swallow, lest the simple rise of my throat puncture the skin. And then my captor bent his head low so that his mouth was near my ear. "I've an idea. Let's see what's under all this wool…"

  Snick.

  The pressure on my hair released and my captor let out a soft cry. He let go completely and I heard a dull thud. When I looked back, there was an arrow sticking out of my captor's forehead, right between his eyes.

  Snick. Snick. Snick.

  The men who had been holding on to Alex and Vera suddenly cried out, collapsing on the ground with arrows sticking out of their necks. The horses above whinnied and the men standing near the ledge murmured to one another, afraid. There were more sharp cries and I thought I heard Rakken curse.

  And then Rakken suddenly cried out and plummeted over the lip of the ravine, landing near my feet, dead. I looked at Alex and Vera, my heart pounding as adrenaline flooded my body. They were just as startled and confused as I was. And then the silhouette of a cloaked figure appeared, standing at the edge of the ravine.

  Whoever it was slung their bow back over their shoulder and adjusted their quiver. It was the figure I'd seen in the dining hall, but what was the person doing here? Had this person really come to our aid? Or were we in even bigger trouble? Whoever it was had just downed eight men in all of a few seconds.

  Vera had already grabbed a bow from one of the fallen guards, strung an arrow and pointed it straight at the figure.

  "Please"—the person held up empty hands—"I'm here to help." The voice sounded young and familiar. Very familiar, and it was obviously male.

  Vera did not lower the arrow, and Alex moved to my side, standing protectively between me and whoever-he-was.

  "Who are you?" I demanded.

  He hesitated. "I'd pull back my hood, but I'm afraid V, here, would skewer me before I had the chance to explain myself."

  My jaw fell slack and I gasped. "Thad…?"

  "You're right," Vera said. "That sounds exactly like something I'd do." She pulled the string of her bow back an extra inch for maximum penetration.

  Alex jerked me completely behind him so that I had to peer around his shoulder to see Thad. Well, Thad's cloaked form.

  "What are you doing here?" Alex demanded in a deep and threatening voice.

  "I'd tell you," Thad said, palms still raised in surrender, "but it's a little hard to focus with an arrow pointed at my face."

  "Try focusing with it in your face," Vera spat.

  "Vera, wait…" I said, pushing my way around Alex, even though he tried desperately to hold me behind him.

  "Give me one good reason why I should," Vera hissed.

  "I can't give you that reason," I said. "He can." I pointed at Thad. "But he won't be able to if you kill him. Please, I want to hear what he has to say."

  Alex's face darkened. "After everything he's done…?"

  I leveled my eyes on his. "Yes. I have more reason than anyone to want him dead, but I would like some answers." I looked back up at Thad. "He did just rescue us, after all."

  "And how do you know this isn't some ruse to hand us over to his father?" Alex's expression was a mixture of disbelief and indignation.

  "I don't," I said, still watching Thad, "but he just downed eight men. If he'd meant to kill us, he would've done so already."

  I heard Thad sigh even from where I stood. "And here I was beginning to think no one was paying attention. Thanks, Rook."

  "Don't you dare think for one second that I actually trust you," I growled up at him. "I want to know why you're here—that's it. If you so much as move a pinky the wrong way, I'll sink an arrow into your face myself."

  A pause. "Just a thought, Rook, but you might wanna just throw your dagger. You're terrible with a bow."

  I glowered up at him and Alex tried to take a step around me, but I held out my arm to hold him back. The look in his eyes almost incinerated me on the spot. It wasn't that I didn't understand his anger—I did. But if Thad died, I wouldn't learn the truth.

&nbs
p; "Pull back your hood," I said to Thad. I wanted to see his face. I wanted to see what was written there when he told his story.

  And there was that small piece inside of me that really just wanted to see him.

  "You're sure V isn't gonna loose an arrow?" he asked.

  I looked over at Vera, who still had the bow strung, taut. She wouldn't release it unless I asked her to, so I decided to just leave her that way. I looked back up at Thad. "She won't. Start talking."

  "Should I come down there first?" he asked.

  "No. You can say whatever you have to say from up there." I folded my arms over my chest, eyes fastened on him. Alex had his sword drawn and he stood behind me, but a little to the side—just in case he needed to throw me out of the way.

  Slowly, Thad reached up, grabbed the edges of his hood and pulled it back. Moonlight illuminated his all-too-familiar face, and my heart squeezed a little. Even from here I could see a certain vulnerability in his usual charm that made me instantly want to trust him.

  Just like his father.

  Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I should've made him keep his hood on, because seeing his face clouded my mind. I couldn't seem to find any direction and my head was a swirl of blurred memories. He had filled some of the brightest moments of my life, yet he had also been the cause of the darkest. I wanted to cling to the dark to help my heart accept the man Thad had become, but the light kept poking holes right through it, reminding me of who he had been and who he could be. Hope could be a very dangerous thing, because it might shine so brightly as to blind a person from the deep, dark truth.

  I had to be careful; I couldn't be taken by Thad again.

  "Where did you want me to start, Rook?" Thad asked.

  "You can start by not calling me Rook," I said.

  "Princess?" Thad asked.

  I put my hands on my hips. "You have ten seconds to start talking before I give Vera the go-ahead."

  Thad folded his arms and grunted. "Some thanks I get…"

  "Ten," I said.

  "Ten what?" Thad asked.

  "Nine."

  "Okay, okay!" Thad raked a hand through his hair. "Hellfire, Rook. I mean Princess. I mean…gah! What in the seven territories am I supposed to call you? Your highness…?"

  I held up eight fingers. "Quit stalling."

  Thad huffed something unflattering about princesses while throwing his hands down at his side. "Look. If you're wanting me to give you a good reason not to kill me right now, I don't have one. Did I just save your life? Yes. Do I intend to hand you over to my father? No. I'm here because I've been following you ever since you landed on Pendel, and I've been trying to find a way to reveal myself without simultaneously getting myself killed. I know I deserve it. I know I deserve to be punished and tortured for the rest of my life for what I've done. So you wanna know why I'm here? I'll tell you why I'm here. I'm here because I didn't expect it to hurt so much and I can't do it anymore." The words had tumbled out fast, and when he stopped speaking, he dragged his hands over his face, keeping them there like he was physically trying to hold his composure together.

  I noticed Vera had lowered her arrow a fraction. Alex, however, stood perfectly still beside me, his eyes fixed on Thad, and there was a shrewdness to Alex's features that showed me a rare side of him: the killer side.

  And then there was Thad, standing up there all alone with his face in his hands like if he blocked out the world, maybe the world wouldn't see him. I could feel his pain, even from down here, and it was a raw and acidic torment that ate away at his insides.

  When Thad finally pulled his hands away, he had a wild and desperate look about him. "Roo—Daria…" He sighed. He sounded empty and deflated. "Cousin."

  I swallowed, biting the insides of my cheeks to draw the pain from my chest.

  "Once I was old enough, my pops sent me to the Academia because he wanted me to get close to you," Thad continued. "To all of you, and I did. It was easy, though Del Can't took a little work because he's naturally so skeptical. But you…" Thad was squinting at me. "You were alone and hurting, and I…I took advantage of that. But then you showed me what it was like to have family—real family. Not the kind that held expectation over your head like some giant anvil; not the kind that threatened and bribed you with their love and support. No, you cared for me openly and freely…unconditionally, but I didn't realize what that meant to me until I saw the look on your face when I…" He closed his eyes and took a slow breath. "I know I can't ever erase what I've done, and I'm not asking you to forgive me." He opened his eyes again and looked down at me, and I had the strangest notion that it was just him and me talking with no one else around. "I'm asking you for a second chance."

  His words were met with silence.

  Alex's sword arm had gone slack at his side, and he was now watching me, his face a blank. Vera, too, had lowered her aim to the face of the ravine, her eyes darting between Thad and me, waiting.

  The facts were that I was tired, and starving, and we couldn't go back to Nyhavn—not to mention that strange corpse creature we'd run into. And without horses, we still had a long trek before we reached Karth. A trek I didn't want to make on foot with danger like that around. But Thad was up there with a horse. Maybe he'd salvaged a few more. "How many rideable horses are up there?" I asked.

  Thad looked a little surprised by what sounded like a total change of subject. In a way, it was. I couldn't really process my feelings toward him at the moment.

  "Uh…" He looked over his shoulder. "Well, there's mine and one more eating grass about four hundred yards away. Why?"

  I looked back at Alex, and he immediately understood.

  His eyes searched mine. "Are you sure?"

  I nodded. "I believe him, Alex," I whispered so that only Alex could hear me.

  Alex wiped a hand across his brow with a weariness on his face that went deeper than a lack of sleep. "I know you do."

  "But it's not just about that," I continued. "We need the horses, and we need to find somewhere safe to stay for the night. I'm exhausted, and I don't want to reach Karth on only two hours of sleep."

  Alex's jaw clenched as he looked up at the edge of the ravine to where Thad stood, waiting.

  "So?" Vera said impatiently. "Do I shoot him or not?"

  I shook my head. "Not tonight. Thad…" I looked back up at Thad. "We're coming up."

  Thad didn't say anything, but his relief rammed into me with the force of a ten-foot wave. I was starting for the cliff when I remembered something. Correcting my steps, I walked back to where Rakken lay, his dark eyes open and vacant. The left side of his face was smeared in blood and black clots, and an arrow stuck straight up from his chest as if it had pinned him to the ground. My stomach turned. I had seen too much death.

  Gingerly, I sifted through Rakken's cloak and felt around his waist until I found my dagger that he'd stolen from me. I took it and shoved it back in its sheath, and I was removing two more blades from Rakken's waist when I heard the most nightmarish sound echoing from farther down the ravine. It was layered with inhuman tones, discordant and shrill, and in my horror, I realized I'd heard the sound before. Just last night, in fact. On the beach.

  I froze and snapped my head up to look at the others. Alex and Vera looked just as worried.

  "That sounded like…" Vera started, eyes wide.

  "I know," I said.

  Alex looked between us. "Last night?" he asked me.

  I nodded, and the three of us gazed back down the ravine. There wasn't much to see, though, because the ravine narrowed as it stretched on, and the floor became completely hidden in shadow.

  "Do you know where this ravine goes?" Alex asked me, since I had been the one who had exhaustively studied the map of Pendel.

  The layout of the land came to the forefront of my mind in a shocking amount of detail. I could see Nyhavn and the small hills beyond, and a ravine that narrowed into a black line, snaking like a river until it led to… "A crypt," I whispered, my heart pic
king up speed. "It's a centuries-old burial site filled with catacombs."

  Alex stared openly at me. "The map told you all of that?"

  "No, the map called it Hall of the Dead, but the name triggered a memory from a book I'd read at the castle. But the book didn't say anything about—"

  "I don't mean to be pushy, princess," Vera interrupted, her arrow now pointed down the ravine, "but you might want to save your history lesson for later so that we can get the blazes out of here."

  As if to emphasize the point, that horrible scream sounded again, bouncing off the walls of the ravine. And it sounded closer.

  "Uh, Rook…?" Thad said from above. "Please don't tell me this is what you had in mind for my punishment."

  The three of us scrambled up the ravine, following the diffuse glow of moonlight. My heart pounded and my palms sweat because I knew what was down that ravine, and this time it sounded like there was more than just the one.

  Once I reached the lip of the ravine, Thad reached out a hand to help. I was too frightened to deny him. He pulled me to my feet, gave me a once-over, then reached out to give Alex a hand. Alex didn't refuse him, either, and Vera had just climbed over the ledge when I saw the first signs of movement down in the ravine.

  A white body moved with the predatory gait of a cat, stopping beside Rakken's dead body. It crouched there, the moonlight giving an eerie glow to its gray bones and muscle. I exchanged a horrified glance with Vera; it was the exact creature we'd fought last night. Had it come all the way from the tombs?

  More of the creatures slowly crept out of the shadows, surveying the fresh death on the floor of the ravine. My heart beat so loudly in my chest that I was afraid they might hear it. There were five of them down there, huddled around one of the bodies. And then they reached forward, with long, spindly arms and fingers, and they started eating the body. Alex grabbed my sweaty hand, pulling me slowly away from the gruesome sight. We all moved steadily and lightly so as not to draw their attention to us. Just a few more steps and we'd be completely out of sight and near one of the horses. And then my boot crunched on something.