Page 28 of Knight's End
I walked over to Declan to check on him. He sighed and waved me away. “I’ll be fine, Bloss. You don’t have time to worry about me. We need to find Ryan.”
I nodded, crossing my arms over my chest as if to brace myself for impact. I wanted to ask Blue to search for Ryan’s thoughts. But at the same time, I was terrified of what he would find. Or wouldn’t find. My chin trembled despite my efforts to clamp my jaw closed. I had to swallow down the bile that rose in my throat as I turned toward Marscha.
The castle still rose in the distance, battered from the attack before Donaloo had put the freezing spell on it. The mage’s tower was the only bright spark of blooming life amongst the wreckage that stretched for miles. The unnatural flowers on the tower contrasted the devastation with little pinpoints of orange, yellow, and purple blooms.
I closed my eyes and allowed myself a moment to take one long, bracing breath before I started forward.
I was determined to walk through town, not only to honor those who had passed, but to see if anyone survived in the wreckage. I was certain it was impossible. But I'd seen the impossible happen before. And if I could save even one of my citizens, it was my duty.
I walked first, down the middle of the road. My knights walked two by two behind me. We moved toward the first building slowly, my ears and eyes on high alert for any movement or sign of distress.
Suddenly, my vision blurred. Flattened buildings seemed to pop up and regain their shape. Walls restored themselves. And what had looked like a crumbled ruin became a home. I glanced back; my knights’ faces were still dark with sadness and guilt.
“Come here,” I whispered urgently. They lined up beside me and I watched their startled faces as they took in what I saw.
“Is the house back?” Declan asked.
Quinn nodded. He pointed at his eye and at his head and then put his fingers in an X.
I nodded. “Yes. It’s kind of like the illusions you make.”
We took another step forward. The silence of a dead city was suddenly replaced by the laughing, shouting rumble of a town that was alive and well. Townspeople filled the street, looking alive and well, if a bit odd. They were all out, crawling around on their hands and knees—children, the elderly, everyone. One man’s face popped up over a roof ledge, “I’m searching the thatch.”
Our people were safe. But they’d gone mad.
My knights’ faces were confused, disoriented by this double reality. But it hit me. "Donaloo. He's back."
A third step revealed guards, lined up, protecting the town. When they saw us in our Raslen garb, their spears lowered to point right at our chests.
* * *
It was Quinn who stopped them. Even without words, my silent spy master’s name and face were known throughout the kingdom. He side-stepped a spear point and tossed his blue vest on the ground. He tugged at his hair and fingered the bead there.
The eyes on the soldier nearest him widened. “Knight Quinn? Quinn Hale?”
Quinn gave the man a small smile.
The soldier turned to one of his comrades. “Get the general!”
My heart nearly collapsed in relief. If they were saying that, Ryan was okay.
A soldier scampered off and their commanding officer was soon tromping over. He was a thick, burly man whose hair was mostly grey. Luckily, this man recognized Connor as well as Quinn.
Connor used his normal charm on the soldier. “Is there somewhere we can wait for Ryan? We’ve been on a confidential mission and will need to discuss it with him.”
“Of course, sir,” the commander clicked his heels together and escorted us away from the road toward a small barracks that had been built to guard the edge of the capital. He left us in a plain wooden room with a long table and several benches. Another soldier brought a pitcher of water and several cups and set them out for us.
Dini started to screech for some sugar water, but Declan had a very convenient coughing fit that covered it up for us. I scratched at her bark to shut her mouth.
Her little moan wasn’t much better.
“Do you need anything else?” the commander asked, looking at us oddly.
Connor came forward and shook the man’s hand. “No, thank you, that’s wonderful, Commander—”
“Lawton, sir.”
“Commander Lawton. We’ll be fine here. I’m so happy to see that everyone is okay. When we flew up, we had quite a fright.”
