Page 73 of Fire in Stone

They left. The door at the end of the corridor slammed shut again. Elex slacked against the wall of his prison. An unexpected comfort came from the contact with the hard, cool surface of the wall. He turned around, pressing his cheek to it, and stilled, letting his mind wander.

Being alone, motionless, and hungry was nothing new to him. The High General must have thought he had sentenced him to some new torture, but that was exactly how Elex had spent years trapped in Ghata’s menagerie.

They couldn’t keep him here for long. With the war going on out there, they will need to act sooner rather than later. They’d have to either kill him as a spy, if that was what they believed he was, or release him and let him fight for the king.

He just had to persevere and hope he’d get his way. Meanwhile, he had some time to kill. To distract himself from the pain, he might as well keep daydreaming about being a werewolf. He closed his eyes. But instead of the childhood stories, the thoughts about the red-haired human girl filled his mind.

Awkward but feisty, Amber had been in his imagination from the first moment he’d seen her. He admired her determination. But there was also sweetness and vulnerability in her that called on his urge to protect.

In a way, he was glad she wasn’t with him right now. It made him shudder to think what his captors would do to her if they got their greedy hands on her. Amber never trusted him. And after he’d snatched her from her world, she probably hated him now. But at least she was safe in theSalamandraSanctuary. And that thought brought him solace.

He dreamed of the sky in the strange human world. Of flying, his wings spread wide and filled with strength after so many years of being dormant. He remembered her light, pliable body in his arms, the heat of excitement keeping them both warm.

A smile sprung to his lips. He’d enjoyed those few days with her more than…well, more than anything else he could recall in his life. Talking to her was light and easy—a real treat after the years of silence. The conversations with Amber had been like a breath of fresh air, a lifesaver. Recalling them made him warm inside, soothing the pain.

And now, he no longer wished to think about anything or anyone else but Amber. Somehow, that odd, red-haired human girl had become his happy place.

Twenty-One

AMBER

Most of the next few days, I spent on one of the rocks that thesalamandrascalled perches. Unlike most of the women in the Sanctuary, however, I lay on mine, using it as a bed. In that time, Isar had led a few more perilous expeditions down to the river to fetch water, but I didn't ask to join them.

The morning after my arrival, Ertee handed me a terracotta jar with a wooden lid. Inside, I found a beet-red paste with a rather pleasant smell of honey and roses.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Put it on your head and everywhere else on your body where we removed hair. It’ll stop it from growing back.”

I winced, and she gazed at me with compassion.

“If you don’t, in a couple of weeks we’ll have to use the tar again.”

The threat of having to endure that barbaric hair removal procedure again was enough for me to quickly slather the red paste all over myself and to keep using it every morning thereafter. The paste turned clear when applied to the skin and didn’t stain. It also made my skin feel soft and nice while keeping my head bald and my body completely hairless.

The burning pain had disappeared overnight. My bruises and scratches looked like they were healing well. But the general weakness remained even days later. I didn’t feel very good.

“Crossing the River of Mists couldn’t have been easy,” Zenada commented as she treated my injuries once again.

The touch of her gentle hands felt better than any balm to the wounds. The warm, tingling sensation seeped from her palms to my muscles. I envisioned my bones resting and my muscles knitting together, my skin sealing close as her magic coursed through me.

“Can all women do this?” I asked. Elex had called all gargoyle women healers.

“To some degree.” Zenada nodded, adding proudly, “My family magic has always been stronger than most, however, which makes me the main healer in the Sanctuary.”

I was grateful for Zenada and her gift. Despite the many awful things that had happened, I was grateful for the little blessings that came with them.

On the fourth day after my coming to Dakath, I finally felt strong enough to walk in the yard. There wasn’t much space to move around, though. Despite the late morning hour, the small courtyard remained largely shrouded in the shadows of the mountain and the tall outer wall with the gate.

My legs still trembled unsteadily as I shuffled along the wall, supported by Ertee at my side. She helped me sit down on a roughly hewn rock sticking from the ground by the foundation of the Sanctuary.

Zenada followed us outside.

“Here.” She shoved something round into my hand. “I got a present for you.” She flashed me a white-toothed grin.

I glanced at the purple-skinned turnip in my hand.

“Thank you. But I can share it.” I looked up at her, then turned to Ertee.

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