I took my time, and eventually an older woman took one look at me, and wordlessly offered her cloak. I remembered I was practically half-naked by human standards, so I gratefully accepted it, wrapping it around my body. I passed the tents lined in orderly rows around the fire, ducking inside an empty one and grabbing an empty goblet. I let a claw slide free of my human form and slit along my forearm, bleeding until it was half-way filled. I made a slow walk around the entire camp, listening.
“They still haven't found the king. Do you think he truly escaped?”
I bowed before two male lykos, gathering the empty plates in front of them with my eyes downcast. They didn’t acknowledge me, except for a look of disgust at my smell.
“It is hard to say. No one has escaped the Overlord before.”
The first lykos was the one from before, with the scar over his eye. The second one had red hair that looked oddly like fuzzy fur as it stretched down his neck and back, disappearing under his armor. I realized it was fur, not hair.
“If he has escaped, where is he? He has abandoned us.”
Scar face scowled into his ale, and red head sighed.
“We have bigger problems. If the rumors of human uprising in Cantrada are true—”
Scar face cut him off with a hand, glaring at me.
“Hurry up, or I’ll help you along.”
His hand rested on a long sword and I purposefully tripped, smearing manure over the plates yet keeping the goblet of blood steady in my hand. They both laughed and walked away. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding.
I skirted the woods and approached Benedict from behind, letting out a small trill so I didn’t alarm him. He twitched, but otherwise didn’t move. He’d stopped fighting his chains and was standing like a large, angry statue. The iron mask covered his entire head and had to be painful. It looked too small for him.
I pretended to check the tightness of the stakes in the ground as he growled at me. Kieran’s back was facing the camp, so it wasn’t hard to kneel beside him and pry his lips open. I dumped my blood down his throat as he choked. He groaned and started to twitch.
“Run away,” Benedict ordered me, his voice low and edged with fear. I didn’t blame him; I wouldn’t react well to being blinded and chained either.
“Never,” I hissed back, pulling on one chain just to irritate him. He stumbled, catching the attention of a lykos.
“You there! Get away from the draken!”
I held up my hands in surrender, bowing as I did so. I wished to see his face behind the heavy mask, to get some idea of what to do.
“Run.”
That was all he could get out before the lykos was on us. Benedict roared, taking the slack of his chains and flinging it at the lykos, in the direction he heard him coming. It caught around the lykos’s leg and Benedict yanked hard, sending him sprawling to the ground and trapped. The lykos screamed for help as Benedict reeled him in, effectively gaining the attention of everyone in the camp. Kieran was moving slowly behind him, no one looking. This was my chance. Kieran stood shakily, whipping his head back and forth. I was thankful they had only put the iron gauntlets on him, and not the mask. He didn’t ask any questions as I ran back into the woods, intent on joining Benedict in creating as much chaos and noise as possible.
I ran to the witches, gasping as adrenaline shot through my veins. Meruse was already free, the water in one bowl empty. I watched wide-eyed as she chanted and wove her hands, the water in the second bowl coalescing into a line in the air as she punched it through the lock on Astrid’s chains. They fell to the ground with a wet thud, and Astrid’s grin was feral. With a flick of her hand the two nearest lykos fell, clutching their throats.
“Don’t kill anyone, we are trying to negotiate an alliance.” I chastised.
Meruse reared back, her lips twisting in a sneer.
“Are you mad? They would all kill us if—”
“Please,” I begged, and she hissed in frustration.
“Fine.”
Astrid hmphed, but drew her hands back, leaving the two lykos merely unconscious. The two witches had half of the lykos down before they noticed anything, too wrapped up in trying to contain the two raging drakens. Astrid vanished the air near the lykos, and the rest collapsed. I raced to Benedict and Kieran as Meruse addressed the humans.
“Run, if I were you. I don’t care where.”
They didn’t hesitate; just grabbed what they could and took off.
“Iron does nothing for you,” Meruse commented airily to Benedict, taking in the metal prison my mates were encased in.
“Please, get it off.”
His voice was as off-kilter as I’d ever heard it, and then I remembered how claustrophobic most drakens were. This was literal torture for him. I put a hand on his chest, and he nearly whined at the contact.
“We will get you out, stay calm.”
His head nodded heavily, and I went to Kieran, repeating the same. He tried to reach for me with the iron gloves, snarling in frustration.
“I can’t think of how water would get them out.” Meruse thought hard, biting her lip. Astrid shook her head, also without any ideas.
“Nor air.”
I turned, remembering the iron cages used to transport slaves from the breeding house. The older ones had bars that were weaker, covered in orange rust. There were always more guards when they used those cages, as if the metal were weaker.
“Rust. Use air and water to rust the metal.”
They only paused a moment before springing into action. Meruse heaved the water barrel over, and Astrid studied
