Gin, She may lead us to whoever sent her. What if it is the Mother Dragon? We do not want to go over and say how-do-you-do to Lady Kaerinth herself.
Sath skidded to a halt, tightening his grip on Gin’s hand. He was not pleased to discover that she was pulling him along still. He’d forgotten somehow that they were the same size, and that he couldn’t stop her by just coming to a halt himself.
Gin!
Just come on. We need to find out why this Ikedrian is following us. I don’t think she just wants the orb, or she would have already made a play for it again.
She continued running, and Sath had to quicken his pace to keep up with her. They caught up with the dark elf, and before Sath could stop Gin, she pounced, wrestling the other female to the ground. “Why are you following us?” she demanded, switching back to the common tongue. “Answer me!”
“I will not tell you anything, Nature Walker!!” the female spat back, struggling against Gin’s hold on her arms. Gin straddled her, holding her down in the dirt of the path.
“Whoever sent you will kill you for letting us catch you. It’s the Mother Dragon, isn’t it? Why don’t you let us help you?” Gin said, changing her tactic and speaking in D’leesh. She could hear Sath trying to growl behind her, his elven throat pinching off the sound to a mere clearing noise, so she made sure to translate for him through the bond.
Stand down, Sath. I’ve got this.
That is the wizard from the Outpost, Gin, I’m almost certain. I just can’t remember her name—why can’t I remember her name?
“You know nothing of my mission,” the dark elf responded.
“I know enough. What is your name?” The female looked away from Gin, who took her chin gently and shifted her gaze back. “You know our names, but we don’t know yours. What is your name?” The female spat at Gin, who frowned and wiped off her face. “We know that you were sent by Kaerinth, the Mother Dragon. Take this message back then. The Guardians were created to stop the likes of her from upsetting the peace of Orana—she cannot stand against us. The Guardians will not allow it. She will never have the orb, and Taanyth will never be free.” Gin hopped to her feet, and the Ikedrian rolled onto her own feet and ran.
“What was THAT?” Sath roared, some of the ire he felt lost in his new voice.
Calm down, Sath.
Gin stood up and turned to face him, her expression still harsher than he had ever seen it. She was angry.
She will not take that message to Kaerinth. That would be a fool’s errand. The Mother Dragon would not hesitate to kill her for being caught by us twice and still coming up empty-handed as far as the orb is concerned.But I think we’ve scared her enough that she won’t follow us anymore. I will not kill her just to silence her.
I’m just not used to seeing you like this, I guess. I’m used to taking care of you and not the other way around.
Yeah, that was kind of a new thing, wasn’t it? Get used to it. Now I know why you always shoved me behind you and took off after the bad guys like you did.
Sath’s expression softened a bit as he held out his hand and smiled as Gin reluctantly took it. They left the path and continued through the trees and underbrush toward the citadel of La’al Drygyr. Soon Gin was in front of Sath rather than side by side. He watched her move through the trees, again awestruck at her agility. He had to admit that he didn’t often give her a chance to take the lead, not because she was not capable, but because he needed to keep her safe. But now, here, he was seeing that she didn’t need him as much as he’d thought she did. Was this just a trick of her goddess, or was this the real Gin?
“Sath, stop staring at the back of my head,” she whispered, making him chuckle to himself. She pushed through a particularly dense overgrowth near a clump of trees and peeked through it. “Look, just over there, I think I see a clear path toward that group of buildings. That must be the entrance to the citadel.” She headed for the path, but Sath hung back a bit. What would be waiting for them inside?
“Gin, you don’t just walk up to the door of the red dragon’s house and say may I come in, please—we need a plan!”
She turned to face him, hands on her hips and toe-tapping impatiently as she had done so many times in the past. “That’s exactly what we are going to do. As Guardians, we should have a safe passage. If not—well, Omerith has betrayed his mother once before, and I’m sure he would not mind doing it again. What do all young males want more than to be out from under the thumb of their overbearing mothers?” Sath frowned, and Gin scowled. “Not you, obviously, but think about Omerith? He formed the Guardians to protect the world from her. He knows how dangerous it would be to release his father back into the world of the living. He’s on our side, I can feel it.” She again headed for the entrance, and this time Sath followed, only to stop her just before she walked through the open archway. “Oh, what now?”
“Why isn’t it guarded, Gin?”
Twenty-Seven
Of Mothers, Wizards, and the Darkness of the Mind
Ellie did not run far before finding a thick clump of trees and chose to hide there to catch her breath. The Nature Walker was right—she could not return to