Page 137 of The Stolen Throne
“Omma is right,” he continues. “You don’t have time to argue this with the others. Eidolon may have more spies. If he doesn’t know about this plan yet, this is your only window to try.” He speaks with an urgency that I can feel like a rush under the skin. “Go. Bene will protect you.”
Just up and leave. No word. No warning.
What would Reven do in this situation? Actually, I don’t have to ask myself that. Because if it meant protecting me, he’d go and deal with the consequences later. We may have dealt with our spy problem, but the Celestial Alignment is still drawing closer. Which means Eidolon is, too.
“Okay,” I say.
The other three look at me, then each other, and Horus nods. “I won’t tell the others about this until you’ve had time to get away. If you make it out of the burning lands, meet us in Tropikis on the night Morta is full.”
The third moon. The death moon.
How fitting.
Already Bene is gathering more sand into himself, his body growing larger, reforming. At the same time, he shapeshifts, taking the form of a huge horse, wings outstretched to either side, head that of a lion, his tail a serpent’s, slashing back and forth.
“No. Uh-uh. I’m not flying on your back. I can make a portal.”
Omma arches a brow. “Right here next to camp? It’s dark. They’ll see the glow and be here before you cobble together anything of use.” Before I can protest, she adds, “I saw what you built in Tyndra.”
As much as I want to bristle at the insult, she’s right.
Someone shoot me. Looks like flying is in my immediate future no matter what I do. I try not to think too hard about that.
“After you move the zariphate again, split up Reven, Cain, Vos, Tziah, Pella, and Hakan,” I say to Horus. “Some of you go to Savanah and the others to Mariana, just in case I fail, or in case we get lucky and they know where their amulets are. We’ll all meet in Tropikis.”
If Eidolon is trying to lay a trap for our next move, splitting up means he’ll have to pick one place to go himself—Tropikis, Mariana, or the burning lands. At least two of our groups will make it. Hopefully.
“You may ascend,” Bene says with a flap of his wings. He’s not full-size, barely big enough to fit the three of us.
It takes effort to get Tabra on. Then Horus cups his hands to give Omma and me a boost. I’m at the front with Tabra behind me, and Omma at the back—the two of us keeping her upright between us. Her head rests on my back like the effort to climb on left her unable to hold it up any longer.
Maybe we shouldn’t take her.
Before I can say so, Horus backs away and bows in the traditional Wanderer gesture of protection. “May the goddesses watch over you and return you to us.”
I can see in the hardness of his jaw and the way he holds his shoulders that he’s hating this even though he told me to go. He promised to protect me.
Time is against us now, spilling through a broken hourglass.
“Goddess guide your steps,” I offer him in return.
Bene must take that as a signal. He doesn’t jump into the air immediately. Smart, because a Devourer carrying three women would definitely be spotted by the zariphate. Instead, he runs off over the dunes.
I glance over my shoulder to find Horus staring after me. With every pound of Bene’s hooves, I expect Reven to appear in a swirl of shadow and stop us, but he doesn’t. Not even a hint of him. I’m beyond tempted to touch my scars, to offer words of… What? What could I say that wouldn’t make this harder?
“I’m sorry,” I whisper—to him, to all our friends—and hope the shadows bring him my words eventually. Words that echo Vida’s when she tried to take my life.
Horus was right. Desperation is the road to depravity.
58
The One Who
is Missing
The Sacred Tree of Aryd is a few leagues away when we get our first glimpse of it from Bene’s back. Not that I can see much around all his bulk. We stopped once we felt it was safe enough for Bene to grow in size, and he’s huge.
I didn’t bother to try a portal. There’d be no point because where we’re going has no sister-portal waiting on the other end, unlike the temples and the queen’s towers I’ve tried to get us to before. So, after Bene grew to full size, we flew here. The entire goddess-forsaken distance. In the skies. High up.
