Page 83 of Crown of Wings and Whispers

Can we lose them?

She laughed.We can tie them in knots. Will that do?

The dragon closest to us paused a beat. Maybe it was giving up the chase! But then it exhaled a steady stream of white fire that nearly reached us. I felt the heat of it on my face. Kivi tucked her tail.

Marka, must we land?

A possibility popped into my head that made the answer easy--what if these people also had a standing policy to kill DeNoy first, ask questions later?

I stretched myself out against Kivi's neck.Run, baby! Run!

* * *

Kivi duckedand dove and spun just beyond the reach of the dragons' flames, and all the while, I moved like a passenger on a motorcycle, leaning with her, trying not to be a distraction, letting her forget I was there. Our day-long practices were paying off.

At one point, when a white flame nipped at her heel, I realized the dark dragons weren't trying to kill us--they might have done so a few times by then, if their aim had been better. But no, they were holding back. They wanted us alive.

As if trying to prove me wrong, flames shot at us from the side, but it bounced away, stopped by the return of our bubble! Though the sky was still blue overhead, our little force field meant we had to be close to the edge!

We've played long enough, Kivi. Time to go home.

Our edges sizzled again as we fought our way out into the darkness of space. When I looked back, my heart sank. Our pursuers had no trouble following. Either they, too, were DeNoy, or flying in space was a dragon thing.

Let them come,Kivi said, shooting through the darkness with little help from her wings.Let them follow.A pity we won't be able to see their faces when we find our bridge...

The big pair slowly lost ground as we beelined it for the moon. Apparently, our will to escape was stronger than their will to catch us. The longer we flew, the greater our lead. We headed for the back of the giant white globe, but when the sun hit us in the face, I had to shield my eyes. How could I find the bridge if I was blind?

Guide me!

I can't find it!

They are coming, Marka.

I closed my eyes, begged the bridge to show itself, begged the sapphires, inside me, to show us the way.

Two black shadows closed in, flew alongside us, blocking out the light of the stars on one side, the moon on the other. One moved in front of us, faced us. Its massive wings blotted out the white sun....

* * *

Orion wasweary of his courtiers. Now that he’d gathered most of the Naming Powers, they were happy to pay him the respect he was due. But that only enraged him. They should have worshipped him from the moment he’d taken the throne!

“Where is Archer Carew?” he demanded for the second time that morning. Only this time, he spoke quietly, and the ragtag mix of lowborn and High Fae fell silent.

One of the latter was fool enough to step forward. “He cannot be found, sire. His mother’s home is well-hidden—”

“I know it is well-hidden. Find someone with an invitation. And find meThe Queevna, or heads will roll.” He looked pointedly at the fool’s companion. “You will remain here.”

He’d allowed the ancient sisters to slip away in the Embrace. There was no use looking for them there. But there were plenty of Muir witches awaiting interrogation, and he was in the mood for some torture. It might as well be productive.

No doubt his court was relieved when he shiftedPlaceto stand before the judgment bar in Moire’s Embrace. The tribunal stood immediately upon his arrival. They showed him deference, as usual, but not nearly enough. He had to allow, however, that it would be difficult for them to bow and scrape when they’d known him as a prisoner for over fourteen millennia.

They were lucky he didn’t pitch them through the archway, and they knew it.

Of course, he could have shifted directly into the prison where he kept the Muirs, but he was wary of being caught in a trap, and he’d rather step into Nothingness than be forced back into that cell with the window eternally displaying the constellation of Taurus, with his namesake always hunting the seven sisters of the Pleiades and never catching them.

No. He would never shift directly into the prison. Besides, he liked to watch the ancient judges sweat.

“I am here to see my prisoners.”

---