Page 152 of Fate and Flame
“I’ll take the lead and wrap the rope around my wrist with the hand I hold onto Nadra with. She’ll be sandwiched between you and me, Wren. Then Gaea takes the back.”
“We need to leave slack between everyone so we can move through easier,” Wren added.
“No, we have to stay as close together as possible. We won’t be able to move into tight spaces or we run the risk of tripping someone,” I warned.
“So, if I’m in the back, how do you two grab me fast enough to spirit away in a hurry?” Gaea asked.
“If someone yanks the rope, we huddle and throw our hands in the middle.”
“Got it.” Wren nodded.
Gaea spirited us close but not into the army. We were still limited to where she had actually stepped foot, and though she’d spent many nights stretching her boundaries, she hadn’t walked the entire kingdom. Standing on solid ground, fresh dirt and green grass below my feet was shockingly comforting. We held tight to the rope and began our descent down the hill and into the masses.
“We won’t be able to talk once we get much farther. If anyone needs anything, remember to jerk on the rope and I’ll take us out,” Gaea said.
We moved as one through the grassy terrain, and I was sure we all held our breath as we stepped into Autus’ camp. The humans were scattered toward the outskirts, but the closer we got to the center, the more tightly packed they were. Large tents were erected among them. Apparently, Autus had learned how fragile human life was. I led the team forward, called on my magic, and reached my hand out to the first human.
He was alone and kneeling before a fire he was trying to build. They all had the same glassy look. That mindless expression. The moment my hand made contact, it melted away. He started to panic. Looking around himself wide eyed and backing up. I felt a small pull on the rope and heard the whisper of Wren’s voice until the frightened human was quiet. Listening.
This was the beginning of our plan. We needed one human to spread the escape plan to all the others. We couldn’t do that and move quickly through the crowd. We had to rely on them to help save themselves without drawing too much attention. It was the only flaw in the plan. The only wild card.
The human stiffened and then imitated the mindless expression he had before. I had no idea what Wren had said to him, but it worked. We moved. I reached for another. A small jerk as the magic touched him, then our messenger, the first human, was speaking in hushed tones beside him. Again, the second human imitated the blank face. I heard Nadra exhale and felt the tension release from her. This was going to work.
And so, we moved effortlessly through the human crowd, eventually going so quickly we didn’t pause to make sure it was working. There was an endless flow of magic coming from me as we drifted from one to the next and so on. But it quickly became clear that no matter how fast we moved, no matter how much ground we covered in one night, there wasn’t enough time. We couldn’t free them all.
A quick jerk on the rope halted us and within seconds we were miles away from the camp.
“Sorry,” Nadra said. “I just need a minute to breathe.”
I hadn’t realized this was taxing for her. Hadn’t felt a hint of it. She rubbed her head and Wren wrapped her arm around her.
I brushed my fingers along her temple, pulling the headache away.“We need to talk about the plan anyway. What have you told the humans to do, Wren?”
“They are going to march south with the army. They’ll never be able to make a clean break with Autus’ sentries watching.”
“I’ve been trying to avoid them as we move,” I said. “The guards posted sporadically throughout the camp are easy enough to work around, but we are relying heavily on the human’s ability to act at this point.”
“How many do you think we’ve got so far?” Nadra asked.
Wren wrung her hands, looking up as if she were pulling the number from the sky. “Four thousand two hundred and twenty-three. I’ve been counting.”
“Nowhere near enough.” Gaea released a long sigh.
“Should we move north through the crowd, all the way to the rear, and then come back south or move sideways and wind ourselves through?” Wren asked.
“If we go back and forth, we have to weave in and out of the centaurs mingled in at the edge of humans. They will smell us for sure,” Gaea said.
“But if we moved all the way to the northern edge, there just aren’t as many. They are packed in tighter when we are closer to the rest of the army. We could free more in less time if we move sideways,” I countered.
“Your call,” Gaea said. “It’s working so far. If we are careful, we’re fine, but we need to get back in there. Are you okay, Nadra?”
“I’m fine.” She sounded so tired.
“Are you sure?” I asked, pulling her close. “We can stop. We can try again tomorrow night.”
“No. We have to do this now. The longer we draw it out, the riskier it is.”
“Okay, but if you need another break, just say so. I couldn’t tell you were tired.”
