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“That’s not a trail, that’s a dirt road…but it should get us near enough. I don’t think going straight down the mountain is a good idea.”

“Agreed,” Noah said. “We have about two hours of daylight left.”

Web frowned. “That’s not long enough to walk there and back.”

“Let’s hope it’s a friendly campfire,” Pan said with rather less enthusiasm than Noah wanted from him. “Shall we?”

Pan walked away, leaving them to follow. Noah sucked in a breath and followed. Between him and Liam, they had enough supplies to rough a night, but he was more concerned about the fire.

CHAPTER21

The shadows had deepened by the time Pan smelled the smoke of the campfire, along with the scent of dinner cooking. He’d also become aware that they were no longer alone in the woods. He wasn’t sure if the humans had noticed, and if they hadn’t, he wasn’t about to inform them they were being stalked. Panicking humans were not going to make things go smoother.

Web had stopped bothering him, though Pan was monitoring him. He didn’t need magic to know that Web was the kind of person to always watch. What irked him was the way he couldn’t put his finger on why, exactly. It was more of a nebulous sense made up of the way Web disregarded Noah and assumed that he had the most magical ability and that he expected Pan to find him interesting. If Web boasted about his ability, it would be much easier to dislike him. Instead, Web was another low-grade annoyance.

While they walked, Pan entertained himself, thinking of all the different animals he could turn Web into. A spider was too obvious. He’d considered a raven, but they were smart and didn’t suffer fools. Frogs and snakes also had far more sense.

In the end, he decided a rabbit was most appropriate. They were always looking for the freshest leaves, and if attacked froze.

Liam was definitely a snake. Smart, a bit of a loner, but loyal to his friends and dangerous when crossed.

“I think we should turn here.” Liam pointed into the shadows. “It’s going to be a lot harder to find our way if we aren’t on the road, and we aren’t high enough to see anything.”

Pan tilted his head, sensing centaurs’ heartbeats before they stepped onto the road. Nothing good ever began with centaurs. Their idea of fun involved bloodshed and somebody’s death. They were great if they were on your side in a battle…and that was about the only use Pan had ever found for them.

They didn’t like him as a god either. They kept their prayers for Epona…who didn’t like him after a misunderstanding two thousand years ago. Since then they had avoided each other ever since, but if she was the only god in the area, they needed to work together.

“Oh shit,” Noah breathed, moving close enough to Pan that the wave of Noah’s fear rolled over him.

Three centaurs stood in front of them, armed with swords and spears. There would be three more hidden in the trees and shadows.

Pan held his hands out, showing that he was unarmed, and he spoke in Tarikian. “We are seeking the female greater dragon at the request of Lord Feryn. Her mate is in the city and desperate to be reunited with her.” He wiggled the fingers, showing the city’s ring.

“Feryn is not the Lord of the city,” the male with the beard to his navel said.

Because they didn’t recognize him or because they were expecting the uncle? He should’ve found out more about the political affiliation of the centaurs. “His uncle is dead.”

Beard tapped the butt of his spear on the ground. “The city no longer exists.”

How much did they know about the events? “Not as it did on Tariko. Our world merged with the human world. A place we have not roamed in many centuries. Our city has melded with their city, and everything is damaged. My human friends, including a witch, are assisting with the search.” He turned and indicated to the humans, pausing on Noah.

Beard’s gaze tracked over the humans.

That they were all alive meant it was going great so far. Honestly, surviving the greeting with the centaur was usually a good sign. “How do your people fare?”

Beard’s expression became tight. “Half are missing. Three died on the first day. Another five are injured. One was eaten by the dragon.”

Dragons and centaurs didn’t get along either, mostly because dragons were rather fond of eating them. In the dragon’s defense, centaurs hunted dragons for their skin. One dragon made an entire tent.

“Is the dragon alive?” Or had they already killed her and begun turning her into a tent?

He did not want to be telling the male dragon that, because then he’d fly out here and burn the entire forest to the ground. Pan was one hundred percent sure that the human authorities would not understand and would do something to make the situation even worse.

Beard grunted.

Was that a good grunt or a bad grunt?

The centaurs behind him moved closer and jabbed Pan with the butt of their spears, separating him from the humans and pushing him closer to Beard.