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“You torment me, old mage,” Thane said but smiled and turned around. This reminded him of his days as an adolescent when Vesstan made him run, dive, and roll through an obstacle course, training for hours physically before Thane would even be allowed to practice his magic.“You must be able to fight through pain and discomfort, push your body to its breaking point to master your power,”he’d said.

Taking in a deep breath and slowly releasing it, Thane put one foot in front of the other, counting each step to focus his mind off the stabbing sensation in his torso. One hundred and fifty-seven paces later he stopped at the well again, leaning heavily on the wooden staff. After Varlett shoved her hand through him, he spent much of the first week in a hazy fever. That day flashed through his mind; he felt as if his insides were on fire, blazing hot enough to consume his entire being. He could hardly draw breath, couldn’t move. The screams of Layala as she attacked Varlett still haunted his nightmares. He desperately wanted to get up and help her but failed. He’d only had enough strength to reach out and touch his fingertips to the stone portal.Take us both. Take Layala and me somewhere safe.He couldn’t speak it aloud, but the portal hummed to life. The ability to carry himself through vanished with his strength, but he still hoped somehow it could take them. As if a strong gust of wind swept under him, he lifted off the ground.Layala,he begged.

But a quiet voice whispered, “She’s too far away.”

He was in and out of consciousness until Vesstan’s face hovered over him. “Tell Layala I’ll come for her,” were the last words he spoke before he lost sense of time and reality up until about a week ago. When he had enough sense to know day from night, he sent a message to Leif, his fierce, fire-haired warrior from the East, to gather the Ravens deep inside Brightheart Forest and wait for him there. From what he heard, Piper, Fennan, and Aldrich, along with other Ravens were being held in prison. Maker above, how could he have abandoned his friends to be captured? Even if they stood their ground while telling him to run, he shouldn’t have. It didn’t save Layala. It did nothing but end in misery. What were they going through right now? The horrors his father was capable of… the near-constant nausea intensified.

“Briar Hollow was burned to the ground a few days ago,” Vesstan called from the front porch.

Thane whirled around, a sudden energy snapping into him. “And you’re just telling me this now?”

“I sent word soon after your arrival here telling Layala’s aunt to leave. From what we’ve heard from the birds, she and the town were gone when the soldiers arrived. They still burned it of course, as they like to do.”

Thane ground his teeth and started back, grunting, and swearing under his breath. Layala loved that town, it was her home, but at least her aunt and friends were alive. Maker above, at the very least that.

Birds chirped annoyingly loud in the canopy of autumn trees. Didn’t they have better things to do like give him an update on Layala? A blue jay belted out a tune. He stared daggers at it.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she comes here,” Vesstan said, rocking gently back and forth in his chair.

“Who?”

“Layala’s aunt. You called her Evalyn. In your feverish fits you kept saying, ‘tell Evalyn to run. Briar Hollow’. I sent a letter explaining what happened and told her where to find you. It’s nice having a gnome around who can speak to birds.”

Thane pressed on, slowly gaining strength rather than tiring as he thought he would. Maybe movement was what he needed. “Find me? Why would she trust me? She watched me steal Layala from their home at knifepoint.” Why had he done that? It seemed foolish in hindsight, but then again Layala was a much different elf now than the one he had taken months before.

Vesstan lifted a shoulder. “A hunch. You’re the only one who can save Layala from Castle Dredwich.”

A tiny scream made Thane jump. He turned. And there was Tifapine running in from the woods with a fox right behind her. The fox’s upper lip pulled up, bearing two rows of small sharp teeth, ready to devour a meal. This gnome would be his end. He swore it.

“Help!” Tif wailed. Her brown curls bounced as much as her little protruding belly on her foot tall frame.

Thane grunted. Dropping his staff, he broke into as fast of a limping run as he could manage. He cursed himself and the damn dragon for how slow he was compared to the elf he used to be. Waving his arms, he shouted, “Get back!” The fox stilled. Its big fluffy tail poised in the air, but it kept its predatory gaze locked onto the gnome.

Tif’s dress snagged on something, and she went down and disappeared among the rich green grass. The mischievous little fox started for her again.That damn creature.Thane stretched out his hand, focusing his energy into his magic. Tifapine lifted into sight and flew through the air. She squealed like a dying cat until she reached the cradle of his arm. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the dramatics.

With her little body shaking, Tif clung to him, digging her sharp nails into his forearm. “I feel dizzy.”

“Get!” Thane shouted at the fox and stomped his foot. The small furry beast turned and slinked back into the shadows until it disappeared.

Out of breath, Thane said, “Tifapine, what have I told you about going into the woods by yourself?”

Pushing out her bottom lip, she whimpered, “You said, ‘stay in the clearing because the woods are dangerous.’ But I was hungry, and the berries are just right on the other side of the tree line. Big, juicy, fat red ones. I’ve been eating them for days. Then that big ol’ mean fox had to ruin everything.”

The exertion it took to use his power and run after Tif left the pain in his abdomen burning and throbbing. Shaking his head, he sucked in shallow breaths and started back for the cottage. That little blue jay Thane saw earlier dropped down from the sky in front of him, frantically tweeting. Thane’s eyebrows rose when Tifapine slapped a palm over her mouth, nodding. What could it possibly be saying? He still found it odd that she could converse with birds.

“No!” she said through her fingers then dropped her hand. “Are you serious?”

Thane looked from the blue jay to Tif. “What?” The bird kept madly tweeting, and Tif kept up with her cryptic “nos” and “oh my goodnesses”. Thane’s patience was at its end, but the bird zipped away. With a sigh, Thane set his jaw and gave Tifapine a scowl.

“Oh, I sometimes forget you don’t understandtweet.” She cleared her throat. “He said they took Layala from the tower and the dragon lady is there and so is a pale one named Math-uh-whiss.”

“Kis,” Thane corrected.

“Kiss, you say?” Her brows shot up. “I mean, you’re engaged to Layala, but I can spare a kiss on the cheek, I suppose.”

“No.” Thane rolled his eyes. “Mathekis. His name is Mathekis.”

“Oh,” she drawled with a blush. “Right. I swear I’ve heard that name before. It sounds creepy. Do we know him?”