Page 99 of Cloak of Night
Broomstick’s voice echoed from inside the grotto walls. “Hey-o, Your Majesty, are you in there?”
Chapter Fifty-Three
We’re here!” a woman shouted from far away.
“Your Majesty, is that you?” Broomstick called. “I’m a taiga, come to rescue you, although it seems like you almost didn’t need my help.” The tunnel she’d dug was truly impressive. The Dragon Prince wouldn’t have left her with a shovel, which meant she must have scraped her way through the clay with a stone. Wow.
“You were the one signaling me from the other side of the rock, weren’t you?” the empress called from the other end of the tunnel. “I have all three of your friends with me. We’ll come your way.”
Broomstick heaved a sigh of relief that Fairy, Wolf, and Spirit were safe. He kept one ear on their approach and another on what was happening outside the hole he’d blown. The explosion hadn’t exactly been quiet. They probably had company coming soon.
Fairy appeared first, mud smeared all over her face but grinning. “What took you so long?” she asked.
“It’s good to see you, too,” Broomstick said. “Everyone all right back there?”
“Yeah,” Wolf said from farther down the tunnel, “except your massive backside is blocking the light, and I can’t see where I’m going.”
Broomstick laughed.
“Thanks for getting us out of here,” Fairy said.
Empress Aki poked her head around Fairy and greeted him. “Ah, our savior. Thank you. Most would not risk their own lives to save those already doomed.”
“Your Majesty, I didn’t think twice about it.”
“That’s because you’re cast from pure honor.”
Broomstick blushed as he bowed. Or he attempted to bow in the cramped tunnel.
He could still feel the doubt from the Lake of Nightmares inside him, but Broomstick was also beginning to suspect that there wasn’t water in his lungs. It was possible his friends and the empress were right. Maybe everyone had the potential for evil, but it was a choice whether to succumb or to fight it.
Fairy nudged him. “We should get out of here. If the ryuu aren’t already waiting for us outside, they’ll be there soon.”
“Right, let’s go,” Broomstick said, turning and crawling toward the exit.
As they got closer to the part of the tunnel that Broomstick had blown apart, they had to watch for shrapnel from the rocks. By the time they got to the exit, he had several shards embedded in his palms.
Broomstick poked his head out of the opening to check for ryuu.
“Coast is clear,” he said, waving them on. He climbed out first, then offered his hand to help the others.
Fairy and Empress Aki came out and clung to the steep, rocky ledge. Below, the ocean roared and spit at them. The clouds had covered up the moon again, and thick mist shrouded the night.
Then came Spirit, who looked like a phantom version of herself. Stars, what had Broomstick missed? He’d never seen Spirit this defeated. Even when the world was against them, she was their fearless leader.
Finally, Wolf emerged in boy form.
“What happened to Spirit?” Broomstick asked quietly as he pulled Wolf out of the tunnel.
“Prince Gin killed her mother in front of her, and now Hana has their father captive.”
“Good gods.”
“Yeah.”
Empress Aki interrupted them, pointing into the fog. “Is that a ship over there?”
“Nines,” Wolf said. “We killed Skullcrusher and Skeleton, so how are their navies still working?”
