Ash Princess

by Eve Langlais

  Surely she overreacted, but tell that to the gnawing worry in her stomach.

  Time passed. Hours and hours, or so it seemed. In reality, it was a lot less. She hated not knowing what was happening. She was crouched by the stairs, listening, when she caught the hint of smoke.

  Smoke in a place of stone? She grabbed the crossbow leaning against the wall. “Milo, I need you to stand outside. Be ready to drop the bar if I tell you.”

  “You mean once you get out.”

  “Drop the bar no matter what.”

  “If there is something down there bad enough to take you and the others out, then closing this door will only delay the inevitable.”

  Her lips thinned. “Delaying is all we have.”

  Milo exited and kept the door open only enough to hear her and keep an eye on the hole in the floor. It had to be killing him.

  Surely there was nothing to worry about. One of the harvesting crew must have gotten hurt, delaying their return.

  If only she believed it.

  Across the room, Gellie squawked. He waddled in agitation, rolling his body, ruffling his stunted wings. A dragon needed space for them to grow.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked. Not that Gellie ever replied, but at times it felt like he could understand.

  There was the smell that was wrong, first of all, then the noise. What noise? She couldn’t hear it, and yet glancing at Gellie, she did. The grunts of exertion, the distinctive fleshy smacks from a stave, the howl of something inhuman.

  Howling wasn’t good. She looked away from Gellie, and the sensory input faded, if it ever existed at all. She preferred not to dwell on it because then she’d have to decide if it was real or a symptom of her finally going crazy.

  Kayda held herself ready, and it wasn’t long before she could discern the faint sounds of battle. Sweaty hands gripped the crossbow as she watched for whoever would come up those stairs. Friend or foe. It took everything in her to not succumb to the temptation of going down to see. If she did that, then who would warn Milo to block the door? Who would protect the rest of them?

  Her finger flexed but didn’t press on the trigger as a body lurched into view, covered in gore, but not a monster. A grimacing Lila, followed by Gorri, who turned to look behind, only there was no one at his back.

  “Where’s Hale, Pelo, and Bea?” Kayda asked as her friends reached the room. She left out Cam on purpose.

  “Gone. We think.” Gorri rubbed his face and only spread the grime. “Cam’s still down there fighting off the last one.”

  “Last what?” she asked, her blood running cold.

  “Ghoul.”

  Even before Gorri had finished saying the word, Kayda was skipping down the stairs in time to see a head with scraggly, greasy strands moving in for a fatal bite. Instinct took over; the crossbow lifted, and one of her few remaining quarrels flew.

  Thunk.

  The ghoul fell over. She asked Cam if he wanted to live, and he turned to give her a grin.

  “Nice shot.”

  “Thanks.” She went to retrieve the bolt, but he grabbed her arm as she passed him on the stairs. “Leave it. We don’t have time.”

  The ominous declaration formed a knot in her belly.

  Together, they raced to the top of the stairs where Gorri and Lila waited. As soon as she and Cam appeared, they sighed in relief.

  “You made it!” Gorri exclaimed.

  “We’re not safe yet,” Kayda snapped. “Grab the trapdoor.”

  The first line of defense that went over the hole for the staircase. It locked into place, but she noticed Cam eyed it dubiously.

  “If they come up in a large group, they’ll tear through that.”

  “I am aware,” she said grimly. “Which is why I’m sorry, Milo, but your garden has to go.” She ran for the back wall and the thick metal lever jutting from it. She grabbed hold and heaved. It didn’t budge it at all.

  “Need a hand?” Cam drawled as he grabbed hold and pulled.

  It groaned and creaked as it moved. There was ominous rumbling underfoot that went on for a while.

  When it ended, Cam said softly. “What did that lever do?”

  “Took out the staircase and the first three floors below us. Whoever originally built this place obviously worried that one day their basement crypt might run into problems, and so, every few floors, they built in a failsafe.”

  “You do realize it’s still only a temporary measure.” He said it gently, and yet it stung.

  “I know. Especially since this floor is now compromised. We’ll need to move up a level. A few actually.” Delaying the inevitable that now stared her in the face. The weight of it on her shoulders threatened to drag her down. Just like the deaths of three more now were her guilt to bear. I’m sorry Hale, Pelo, and Bea. I failed you.

  As if he read her mind, he said, “You couldn’t have known.”

  Her reply was as dry as her tears. “But I should have. You said it yourself; us being attacked was just a matter of time. And now that time is up.”

  “What will you do?”

  “Move floors, like I said.”

  “You have to do more than that. If the ghouls reach this level, they’ll flood the tunnels.”

  “I know.” She exited the room and gave Milo a nod.

  He slammed the heavy door shut and dropped the bar. The clang sounded just like a death knell.

  Eyeing the grimy band, she sighed. “Milo, set someone to watch the door and then take care of Lila and Gorri. I’ll clean up our guest.”

  “I’m fine,” Cam grumbled.

  She glared. “You’ve got a gash down your arm and a gushing cut over your eye. You will come with me.” She couldn’t tell him the real reason. Couldn’t admit aloud where people might hear that she didn’t know what to do next.

  Turning on her heel, she marched and expected him to follow. As she noticed the gazes of those who happened to be around, she barked, “Everyone pack up. This level is compromised. If you finish quickly, help the others.” She snared Petra on the way to her room and said quietly, “I need your sharp ears listening at the basement door. First scratch you come get me, understood?”

  The tyke, only seven years old with a mop of white curls, saluted her abruptly and ran to the door.

  “You’re letting that child play guard?” Cam asked, his long stride catching hers.

  “It’s not playing. I told you, we’re running out of people.” She entered her room, and he followed.

  She’d never entertained a man so often in her quarters alone. As a matter of fact, he was the first man she didn’t consider a brother who’d been in her space. In her bed.

  The reminder warmed her thoughts. Which angered her. Why was it here and now and with him of all people that she finally felt something? He’d been here less than a day, and already her world was tilting.

  “Sit!” she ordered, pointing to the chair.

  He opted to perch on the bed she noticed when she turned around with a damp cloth. The shirt he wore had already been stripped, leaving him bare to the waist. She ignored the tanned flesh to clean his arm, dabbing at the wound. The opposite arm from the one the dragon had chewed. It looked as if the wound was weeks old. Which, considering how it looked when she’d found him that morning…

  “You really don’t have to do that. It will heal.”

  “Not if it gets infected.” She scrubbed, letting some of her anger out at the same time.

  He didn’t even wince.

  She gentled her touch. “I’m sorry. I’m frustrated and taking it out on you. I don’t know what to do.” Something easier to admit to a stranger than those who looked up to her.

  “I won’t lie. Leaving will not be easy. It might not even be possible. But you have to try.”

  She uttered a bitter laugh. “Try with what? We are down to less than a dozen people who can fight. Most of those with little experience. And where do I take them? The moment we exit this mountain we’re vulnerable to the dragons.”r />
  “How did you originally get here from the capital?” he asked.

  “There is the Road of Pilgrimage. The route the funeral processions used to take when they went to bury their dead.”

  “And the dragons can’t attack it?”

  “Oh, they do. Which is why we took it at night when the dragons are usually least active. We still suffered casualties though.” The screams of those plucked and carried off rang in her ears for months after.

  “At night...” he repeated musingly. “That’s when the ash is dormant. Any reason why that happens?”

  She shrugged. “I’ve heard all kinds of theories and couldn’t tell you which one is the truth.”

  “This Road of Pilgrimage. How long does it take to run it to the capital?”

  “You can’t seriously be thinking we should return there. Even at night the route is still dangerous.”

  He had one word for her. “Ghouls.”

  “So you’d have me trade one death for another? I might have been only seventeen years old when my father finally admitted defeat and let the dragons have the capital, but I remember we were starving. We can’t return. We’ll die.”

  “I wasn’t talking about going to the city, but past it toward the border.”

  “It will take us days on foot,” she exclaimed. “We’ll be dead before we make it, killed with the first sunrise.”

  “We’d travel at night.”

  “And do what during the day?”

  “Hide. There are abandoned towns along the way.”

  “Spaced close enough for even the smallest legs to walk it in a single night?” she argued. He meant well. He just didn’t see the impossibility. “How will we eat? Drink?”

  “We’ll have to carry as much as we can.”

  She shook her head. “It won’t be enough. We are talking about children for the most part, and an arduous journey in the open.”

  He appeared pensive. “Unless we found the ancient tunnels.”

  Rather than mock him this time, she queried, “Do you really think there are some under Diamond?”

  “I think we really should try and find out.”

  “Not tonight we’re not. To bed with you.” She’d finished wiping him down and binding the wound.

  “I don’t know how I’m supposed to sleep knowing there’s ghouls under us,” he grumbled, lying down. On her bed.

  She blinked. “Um, when I said sleep, I didn’t mean in here.”

  He rolled to his side and grinned at her. “Guess it is a bit tight. If we snuggle and I hold onto you, we should be all right.”

  The very idea! It made her cheeks flush. “How about you sleep in your own bed?”

  “Is this where you put me in a cell in case I’m dangerous?”

  She shook her head. “I think you’ve proven you’re not here to harm us.”

  “You sure you don’t want me to stay?” he offered with a teasing smile.

  She almost said yes.

  Chapter 9

  Cam wasn’t a man prone to flirting, yet he just kept tossing out comments to make Kayda blush. What could he say? He enjoyed it when she turned pink. It made a man wonder where else she flushed with color.

  She offered him an empty crypt to call his own, not far from the staircase they’d blocked. He figured they had a few days at least before the ghouls found a way through the rubble.

  But he could be wrong. The ghouls were adapting. Could be traces of their humanity, their intelligence, making a difference. Which wasn’t good for the humans they liked to hunt.

  Worry wasn’t the only reason he didn’t sleep well, nor was it the hard stone slab that the blanket did little to hide. Kayda was at the forefront of his mind. She needed him.

  And he struggled with that. He’d just left the Marshland because his sister rejected him. Told him it was past time he stood on his own and let her lead her own life, which he was doing, and that meant not latching onto the first set of big eyes that had a problem.

  But it wasn’t just Kayda that looked to him for help. Miriam’s outburst had shown all of the kids did. They thought he knew the way out, which he didn’t, but more than ever, they needed to try.

  The question being, where should they start? When he’d begun his journey, he assumed he’d find answers in the capital. Yet Kayda said her people had left, implying there was no escape to be found there. If that were true, then he had no idea where to go next.

  The following day, he noticed the kids bustling around.

  “How long until they’re ready to leave?” he asked.

  “Tomorrow maybe. More likely the day after.”

  He frowned. “Why that long?”

  “Because we can’t leave under prepared. We have no water containers, meaning we’re repurposing what we can to make leak-proof flasks we can carry. Not to mention, many of the little ones don’t have shoes.”

  “They also need weapons,” he added.

  “Everyone already has something they can use.”

  “We don’t have time to waste.” It was as if he could feel the ticking of an invisible clock.

  “I’m aware,” was her terse reply. “But leaving too quickly is just as dangerous.”

  “I know this is hard,” he said softly.

  “Hard?” Her laughter emerged bitter. “Almost my entire life has been hard. Maybe it would just be better to stay here and accept my fate.”

  The weariness in her voice had him growling. “Don’t you dare give up now. We are going to find a way out of this place.”

  “We? What about your mission?”

  “Don’t worry about me.” Somehow, he’d find a way to handle both helping these survivors and saving the Marshes. If he didn’t die first.

  “So are you marching to the capital?” Because the more he’d thought about it, the worse it sounded as an idea.

  She shook her head. “No, there’s nothing for us there. And my father said Ruby refused to help. We’re going to head in the other direction, following the map we found.”

  “Since when do you have a map?” he asked.

  “One of the children found it when packing their things. It must have belonged to their parents. It’s only a partial, showing the area south of this mountain.”

  “It’s got a marked route to the border?”

  “Nope. That section is missing. But if we follow the road, maybe it will lead us to it. The portion we have shows some towns along the way, and Gorri says there should be outposts for shelter every ten miles.”

  He didn’t mention the fact he’d not seen any on the road he’d taken in. Only barren towns with long stretches in between. “If, by chance, you find yourself in the open and night is ending, a trick we use in the marshes when we hunt is to bury ourselves in the bog.”

  “You might not have noticed, but we don’t have any swamps here.”

  “No, but you do have ash. Lots of it. It could be if you’re under enough of it, you might avoid detection.”

  “Dragons hunt through the ash.”

  “Light dustings of it. A thick layer might be too much.”

  She nodded. “I’ll let the others know.”

  She continued on her way, and he spent a moment staring after her. The plan was a shitty one, but the alternatives were even shittier. There had to be another way. He cornered Gorri.

  “The Cloudring—how certain are we that there’s nothing there?”

  “I wouldn’t say nothing. There’s rubble and dragons.”

  The sarcasm was the boy’s way of dealing with his fear. Cam knew because he’d used it a time or two himself.

  “And you’re sure there’s no map of these caves?”

  The other man shook his head. “The only thing we have is up here.” He tapped his temple.

  “Do you know all the access points to the outside?”

  “Aye. There’s two caves at ground level that spill out onto the plains. I think she’s meaning to use the south one. It will be a hard march to that first town. There’s no c
over at all, meaning if there’s dragons out at night we’ll be easy pickings.”

  “What about exits higher up?”

  “There are a few that go out to ledges. Now being used as nests.”

  “What about the building at the top?” Because he remembered the ruins when the dragon had flown him to the mountain.

  “You mean the ancient tower?”

  The word ancient piqued his interest. “Tell me about this tower.”

  “Not much to tell. My father took me once when I was a kid, before the dragons came. It was a boring place of concrete and metal stairs. He said it used to be an observatory.”

  “So it was built before his time?” Cam asked.

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “When was the last time anyone was inside it?”

  He shrugged. “A long time. My dad told me before he died that one of the first and biggest of the drakes demolished it to make a roost. The whole plateau is scorched earth and crumbling bones.”

  “If it was one of the first, then could be it died of old age.”

  Gorri shook his head. “Dragons are long lived if they don’t accidentally die. The mated pair of ice dragons that the king and queen used to have were over a hundred years old they say.”

  “So the drake is probably still alive? And when you say fire, do you mean to say they breathe it?” he asked.

  That caused Gorri to guffaw. “Fuck no. They just like hot things. The hotter, the better. I think that’s why they don’t fly as much as night. It gets too chilly.”

  Which made Cam wonder, if the land chilled down, what would happen to those dragons? Would they move on to warmer places?

  “How is it the ice dragons are tame, but these fire ones aren’t?”

  “Because the ice ones were hatched around humans. When raised in such a manner, they can be taught. They’re actually quite smart.”

  “Meaning those fire ones might be smart, too. Other than people, what do the fire dragons eat?”

  “Going to throw treats at them while the kids run?” Gorri asked with a raised brow.