Page 33 of Dragon Sword

A fresh scent of spiced food floated over to me and I couldn’t help but lift my nose in appreciation. “That really does smell nice.”

Will offered me a smile and his hand. “Then let us have a bite to eat.”

I cast an anxious look at the woods. “Should we really be wandering around out here?”

“Are you worried when I’m around?” he teased as he offered me his arm. “Or do you believe I’ll make a habit out of leaving you?”

I snorted but accepted the hand. “I’m a little worried about being munched on by a mutant wolf no matter if you’re here or not.”

He helped me to my feet and drew me against his side. “Then I’ll just have to keep close to you.”

I pressed my hands against his chest and laughed. “This close?”

He grinned. “I could get closer but I would have to drop the basket.”

I leaned toward the container and sniffed the air. “It does smell nice, doesn’t it?”

His eyes had a mischievous twinkle in them as he led me into the woods. “Let’s have a taste.”

We traversed through the thick underbrush and I was glad when he stopped us at the first small clearing. Neither the road nor the city could be seen through the trees and all was quiet and calm. Will plopped us down onto a tuft of wild grass and set the basket down in front of us.

My stomach grumbled with anticipation but a question nagged my thoughts. “So are we going to be eating out like this until we figure out what’s wrong or are we leaving?”

“Neither,” Will answered as he reached into the basket and drew out a clay jar with a cork. Two soup cups and a small bowl of greens followed.

I stared at the greens and cocked my head to one side. “What’s so special about that side?”

Will grinned as he picked up the jar and popped the cork. A delicious beefy scent of stew wafted out of the mouth. “That isn’t the side.”

I blinked at him. “Then what is?”

“This.” He poured the soup into one of the mugs. And then kept pouring straight over the mouth of the container and onto the grass.

“Hey!” I protested as I grasped the jar.

Too late. The last of the delicious soup poured out and finished with a hard clank. Wait, aclank?

CHAPTERTWENTY

I gapedat the overflowing mug as Will set the jar at his side. “What was that noise?” I asked him as he picked up the mug.

He reached into the mug and moved his fingers around for a moment before he drew out his dripping digits. Two of his fingers clasped something that resembled a stone key. “The side.”

I leaned forward and squinted. “What is it?”

“The access we need into the city,” he told me as he leaned toward me and held the key close between our faces. “This is the entrance into the passages below the city.”

I blinked at him. “You might it opens the door on the other side of the old bridge?”

He shook his head. “Not quite. It opens a door on an old bridge, but one that isn’t there any longer. The eagle and I destroyed many of them on our way down, as you’ll recall, and this is the key to a door on one of those bridges.”

“How did Alisa get that?” I asked him.

“I told you her parents were traders,” he mused as he tucked the key into his pocket. “They weren’t always welcome back into the city so at those times they would enter via one of the old gates using the key they found in the city’s archives, along with a map of the location of the ruined bridge.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Doesn’t the king know about this door? And all the others down in the vali?”

He nodded. “He does, but the access isn’t easy and the doors were all locked from the inside one by one as their bridges failed. Without a key, it’s almost impossible to enter the lower passages without coming from the other side.”

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