Goosebumps ran across my arms as shouts from the army reached us. The soldiers who had been chasing us had caught up and blocked off the other exit. Boots began to stamp against the rock, swords scraping against sheaths.
It seemed our assailants had realized we weren’t about to unleash a cave’s worth of spirits on them, and they were getting ready to attack.
“Namir? Aliyah? Ideas?” Kassim turned to his spymaster and Aliyah, addressing them as if they were his generals.
Hepzibah scowled at being passed over, yet didn’t argue.
I wished Elian were here. The captain would have known what to do. And having him here was about the same as having ten extra soldiers. Namir and Aliyah were vicious fighters and leaders in their own rights, but they excelled in stealth. They weren’t warriors.
“We dismount,” Namir said. “Camels aren’t war horses. We’ve seen how easily they scare.”
“We drop back slightly to where the canyon is narrowest,” Aliyah suggested. “We’ll move the camels to the center and form a circle around them to protect the lamps. We’ll have to fight on two fronts as the soldiers have us surrounded.”
Kassim nodded. “Our only advantage is the narrow canyon. It means they can’t all attack us at once. Mak?”
The Hiduan princess narrowed her eyes. “I can attack from above. We’ll take out their archers first. The rocs can carry large boulders in their talons. We’ll drop them from above and out of range. If I had even ten more soldiers on rocs, we’d be able to stop them. But with just the three of us…”
The three rocs would help, but Makani was right. It wasn’t enough.
My gaze roamed beyond Makani and Ahe, beyond the awaiting army, to the distant crags behind them. What if I could get more rocs?
A plan began to form as everyone jumped down from their camels. I landed heavily as I dropped from Tarak’s back, my knees jarring as my boots hit the ground.
“Tarak.” I gripped the bridle that ran over his snout. Purple eyes blinked in reply. “Listen. Do you remember the second time we met, in the crypt? You told me I could wish to talk to birds?”
The camel bobbed his head up and down. “You gave some sort of snippy reply, if I recall.”
“Well, do rocs count as birds?”
Tarak and I only had time to exchange a few more whispers as I made my wish, before Aliyah grabbed his reins and moved him to stand with the other camels. He couldn’t shift into a more useful form to help without giving himself away.
Kassim, Aliyah, Namir, and the rest of our soldiers formed a circle around the animals, their faces pale as the oncoming army advanced.
I started to run toward Makani, my body still warm after making my fifth wish, then paused. Last time I’d come up with a plan on my own, it hadn’t ended well. And I’d put the others in danger.
I grabbed Kassim by the arm, pulling him to one side and lowering my voice. “I have an idea how to get help – reinforcements.”
Kassim raised his eyebrows in response.
“I’m going to ask Makani to take me to where the wild rocs roost,” I continued. “I think I can get them to help us.”
“What? Absolutely not.” The vizier appeared next to Kassim, glowering. “You can’t be serious. We need Mak here to fight. Even Zadie is another body.” She looked at me with distaste as she said it. She was probably imagining using me as a shield.
“You running anything past me at all is a new occurrence, Zadie.” Kassim’s voice was dry, but his amber eyes were warm. “I don’t know how you think you’ll convince wild rocs to help. But if you think I’m going to stop you from flying away from this fight, you’re wrong. I’d be happier knowing you’re safe.”
I didn’t know if he meant me and Makani or just me, but now was not the time to clarify.
“I’m not running away from the fight. But if I can bring help, it gives us a chance–”
The three rocs shifted, their talons scraping and wings spreading as if preparing to launch into the sky.
I dropped my hand from Kassim’s arm. “Makani! Mak! Ahe! Wait!” I ran toward the princess, and both woman and bird turned to look at me. “I need to speak to you.”
Tears streamed from my eyes as a cold wind raked across my face and through my hair. My stomach lurched with each beat of Ahe’s wings, and I tightened my grip around Makani’s waist.
Flying was terrifying.
My body was too unbalanced, my limbs too exposed, the ground too far away.
Still, the fear was laced with irrepressible exhilaration. It coursed through me like I was tearing across the dunes on Bandit’s back. The joy of freedom and movement mingling with the gut-wrenching fear of falling to my death.
The giant roc beat its wings, taking us higher and higher, farther away from the soldiers and their arrows that whizzed harmlessly into the air below us. I glanced down, and my stomach knotted. Wisps of clouds covered my view of the tiny humans below, now no more than ants.
And I’d left my djinni behind. The ring was cold on my finger. I wondered how far the bond would extend. Tarak was bound to the ring after all.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Zadie.” I couldn’t see Makani’s face, but she sounded grim. “I’ve left my men behind for this.” Her ponytail whipped back into my face, but I didn’t dare loosen an arm from her waist to bat it away.
I still wasn’t sure why the princess had agreed to help. Without knowing about Tarak, my plan probably sounded insane. Perhaps it was because I’d helped her back in the cave.
“Kassim was okay with you leaving like this?” Makani asked.
Guilt zinged through me, thinking of him preparing to fight far below us.
But I wanted to help save my friends. I wanted to protect Kassim. I would help using my elij when we were back on the ground, but I knew I would be more useful doing this, getting help, than I would throwing myself straight into fighting on the front line. Even with my wish and my training sessions with Elian, I was no soldier.
“Kassim is used to it. At least I asked him this time. I have a history of not doing what I’m told.”
Makani was silent for a second. “Kassim seems different to the sultan who was described to me when our betrothal was arranged. A better man. Perhaps all men in power should spend more time with women who won’t do as they’re told.”
Ahe loosed a shrill cry.
“Up ahead!” a raspy voice echoed in my mind.
A shiver ran through me when I realized it was Ahe, and I could understand what he’d said.
“There!” Makani pointed just ahead. “They nest there, on the crags.”
I squinted to see where she pointed. Tears still streamed from my eyes, my vision blurry. I could just about make out the brown outlines of the rocs. My stomach lurched as Ahe beat his wings to swoop up, hovered for a second, then dropped down to the rock below.
Makani slid off of Ahe’s back, landing lightly. She offered a hand up to me, and I took it gratefully, practically falling from the giant bird, my weak knees trembling as I stood.
“So, what’s the plan?” Makani watched me stagger forward, her face skeptical. “You can’t just walk over to them, you know. They have eggs up here. They’ll attack you.”
“They haven’t attacked us yet…” I stared over at the huge group of birds. They stood watching us, still as totems. Rocks were piled around their feet, and in them sat large, smooth eggs.
“That’s only because Ahe is with us. Rocs are wary of strangers. And they certainly won’t trust a scrawny, windswept princess hobbling toward them.”
Scrawny? “I just need to know how to get close enough without having my eyes pecked out. Then I can communicate with them. I can’t explain how. You’ll just have to trust me.”
“Oh, I trust you. I wouldn’t have risked bringing you here if I didn’t. You’re going to have to make them trust you.”
I glanced back the way we’d flown. Kassim and the others were down there somewhere. Fighting for their lives, and
to protect the lamps. Whatever I had to do, I needed to do it fast.
“The leader is that one, with the darker feathers around her face. If you win her over, the rest will follow.”
“Okay… How do I do that?”
“You have to approach her, keeping eye contact. When you’re close enough for her to strike, lift your head and look up, exposing your throat. It’s a sign of trust. If the roc accepts, she’ll give you a token. If not…”
“If not?” I pressed, although I was pretty sure I didn’t want to know the answer.
“If not, we’ve made ourselves another enemy.”
I tilted my chin, gazing at the largest bird. There was no time for nerves. Aliyah was down there. Tarak. Kassim. My heart gave a small twist as I stepped forward, the wind lashing my hair around my face.
“Intruder! Outsider!” The birds all loosed harsh cries, tracking me as I moved. The translation echoed in my mind. I fixed my gaze on the leader, meeting her dark eyes that were ringed with yellow.
I put one foot in front of the other, not looking down to check the rock beneath my boots, or glancing back at Mak and Ahe. I didn’t shield my eyes from the misty wind that tore over the rocks, whipping my clothes. My gaze never left the roc.
As I walked, I wanted to shout over, put my latest wish to good use. But I kept my mouth clamped shut. Mak knew rocs better than I did.
When I finally stood before the roc, I was already looking upward to keep eye contact. She was nearly twice my height and wider, a wall of glossy, brown feathers.
I clenched my fists at my side. The keen eyes of a hunter bored into me, and my body squirmed, telling me to run. Telling me I was prey.
Ever so slowly, I tilted my chin higher and higher, strands of my hair whipping and curling around my neck as I broke eye contact, casting my eyes to the bright gray-white skies above us.
My heart thumped in my chest as I waited. Should I have said something first? Should I have ignored Mak, skipped the rite altogether, and explained my proposition?
I squeezed my eyes closed, gritting my teeth. Mak wouldn’t let this giant, wild roc rip out my throat, would she?
Or was that exactly what she wanted? To bring me here, make up some story about ancient bonding rites so I’d be killed by a wild roc, and she'd get my sultan?
Nerves stabbed in my stomach.
Then a featherlight stroke tickled my cheek.
I opened my eyes to find the roc leaning over me, a feather in her yellow beak. One of her own by the looks of it. She nudged my cheek with it again.
The token.
Relief coursed through me, and not for the first time since landing, my knees felt like they were sagging.
“Thank you.” I reached out and took the feather.
The roc opposite me cocked her head in an unnervingly human gesture. She squawked in response. “You can speak to us, No Wings?”
I was speaking normally, so I guessed the rocs could understand me in their minds, the same way I’d known what Ahe had said earlier. That was good. It would have been harder to explain to Mak what was going on if I’d started cawing and squawking like an actual bird.
“My name is Zadie,” I said politely. “I have come to ask for your help.”
“We are not the same as our brethren that travel with you. We do not help humans.” The roc glanced over at Ahe. “I will not be your mount, No Wings.”
“I understand.” I replied, my mouth dry. “But I believe we share a common enemy, so I am asking for your help to fight them.”
The roc considered this, while several others crowded around me. She clicked her beak. “Who?”
“An army of men, clad in black. They are attacking my betrothed, my mate.” I tried to use words the rocs would understand. “We fight the same men that scavenged your eggs and ate them.”
A cacophony of squawks and cries rose up at that. “Egg breakers! Nest raiders! Murderers!”
I felt rather than saw Mak appear at my side, her bow held loosely in her hands. Ahe stood at my other side. Mak leaned closer. “What are they saying? What are you telling them?”
I turned to her. “That I believe this army ate the roc eggs we found on the way here. You said it wasn’t anyone from Hidu, and we know it wasn’t us.”
The birds shuffled around, huddling together as they spoke. I couldn’t hear what they said.
“How long will they take to decide?” I asked Mak, pacing back and forth across the rock. “I can’t leave Kassim much longer. They won’t be able to hold off the whole army. It’s only a matter of time before they’re overpowered.”
“You have to be patient,” Mak replied, although she tapped her fingers against her leg, watching the gathered birds with narrowed eyes. “I don’t know how you did this, princess, but you’d better hope it works. If we return without these rocs, we may as well not go back at all.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ahe dropped from the clouds, and my stomach lurched once more.
My eyes found Kassim, his scimitar flashing above his head. Relief coursed through me. Most of our men still stood…and fought.
Dark bodies of enemy soldiers lay on the ground before them, but still more clambered over to attack. Rangi had landed just behind Kassim, close to the camels. His roc looked injured, unable to fold its wing in properly.
“Hurry!” Mak urged Ahe on.
Kassim looked up, noticing us for the first time. I wanted to wave to him, to let him know I was okay, but I clung too tightly to Mak.
A chorus of shrieks filled the air behind us as the wild rocs dropped from the sky like deadly arrows. They released the boulders clutched in their talons, crushing any soldier too slow to move out of their path.
Only a few of the wild rocs had stayed behind to guard the eggs. The rest had chosen to fly with us.
Ahe soared through the air, easily dodging the enemy arrows.
“Mak, let’s drop closer to the fighting. We can help them from above,” I shouted.
Mak twisted around. “You’ll have to let go of me so I can use my bow. Just hold tight with your thighs.”
My legs trembled at the thought of being the only thing keeping me on Ahe’s back, but I dropped my arms from Mak’s narrow waist as instructed, and the princess wasted no time in unhooking her bow and nocking an arrow.
Ahe shrieked and dove.
I unsheathed my elij. Even though my blade would be of no use from this height, it felt good to have it in my hand.
One of the enemy soldiers broke through the line, heading straight for the camels. My breath caught. But Namir was already racing for him, his dagger clutched in one hand. Turning, the enemy soldier swung for the spymaster, then brought down the hilt of his sword on his hand.
Namir flinched back, dropping the dagger, before the soldier punched him in the stomach. The spymaster doubled over.
A second soldier appeared from nowhere, delivering a swift kick to Namir’s ribs, and he dropped heavily to his knees, the two men towering over him.
“We need to help Namir!” I shouted.
Mak shot an arrow almost before the plea had left my lips. One of the soldiers fell, but before she could nock a second arrow, the remaining soldier swung his scimitar.
The spymaster was too winded to defend himself.
“No!” I screamed, my chest twisting.
The scimitar swung forward, then stopped mid-air.
The soldier’s mouth opened, blood flowing from the corners of his lips and dripping down his chin, a long dagger protruding through his ribs. He flew forward as Aliyah placed her foot on his back and withdrew her blade. She offered Namir a hand and pulled the dazed spymaster to his feet.
As we got lower, I saw Kassim’s line had been broken and several of the camels had been taken, the enemy soldiers pulling them away and unloading the lamps.
Tarak was with them, unharmed and still in camel form. He had a full saddlebag between his teeth, waged in a tug-of-war with three soldiers.
“Look.�
� I shouted, pointing them out to Mak. “They were after the lamps.”
“We should leave it, fight with the others.”
I felt a tug at my heart. I cared more about fighting at my friends’ side than protecting the treasure, but if even one of the soldiers knew what was truly inside… It could take just one loosed spirit, just one wish, for it to all be over for us.
“Can you drop me?” I asked, even as my stomach clenched at the thought of hurling myself off the side of the roc.
Mak didn’t answer, but Ahe dropped like a stone, swooping close to the ground, until we were close enough to smell camel dung, to see the patterns on the rugs on their backs.
Trying not to think about it, I rolled sideways.
There was a rush of air, then I landed painfully on my side with a thump. The shock shuddered through my limbs, my skin turning hot where I knew bruises would be blossoming over my side.
I gasped in a breath, watching as Makani darted away again, calling for the wild rocs to join her. They continued their assault on the main army, hurling boulders, grabbing soldiers and dropping them, slashing with beak and claw.
Shakily, I got to my feet, clutching my elij.
It was chaos all around me, a whirl of movement and shouts and blood. For a moment, I stood still, uncertain where to begin.
But I hadn’t made my wish to know how to fight for nothing.
I spun to my right, where Tarak still fought with the soldiers for the saddlebag. It might not be where most of the fighting was taking place, but it was important they didn’t get hold of even one of the lamps.
I swung the sword as I moved quickly toward the soldiers, loosening my wrist and testing how sore my limbs were after the fall. Pretty sore.
Before I could dwell on that, the knowledge of how to attack flooded my mind.
I moved swiftly and silently, racing up behind them, my wish telling me to use the element of surprise to my advantage. I switched my elij into my left hand, grabbed a dagger from my belt, and plunged it into the back of the first soldier’s neck, where his armor ended.
Palace of Wishes (2020 Reissue) Page 23
