Page 39 of The Storm of the Empire (Flyers Of The First Kingdom #3)

THIRTY-EIGHT

LUKA

W e landed near the entrance to the tunnels so we could all change into our priests’ robes. It was the only cover that could conceivably work, and I trusted my foresight to give me the words we’d need to say if we were challenged. I held Hazel and Faolan’s lives in my hands, and I hated asking them to do it. We’d told Faolan he could just wait, hidden near the entrance for us to return, but he wouldn’t hear it. He wanted to help, and he knew the tunnels better than anyone else save for maybe the priests and some elders in Kerani.

“What’s our story if we get caught?” Faolan looked between us.

“I plan on winging it,” I admitted freely. “It’s better to go with the flow than be set in stone. If you’re too focused on a tale, it leaves a rigidity that makes you trip yourself up because there is no way to think through all the questions that can come up.”

“I like this one. He’s a great addition,” Faolan said to Hazel.

She rolled her eyes.

“I’ve been here for ages. Aren’t you the addition?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Aren’t we all?” Faolan smirked. “But I like to know I can trust the team.”

“Is that why you came?” I asked with a half-laugh.

“I came to help. Jaxus and Kiera can’t exactly get away, and I know the tunnels better than they do. Plus, I think you’ll need me.” He lifted his shoulders.

“I’ll take the extra help. And maybe three of us instead of one or two gives us more authority.” At least that made sense in my head.

“I think you’re right about that. We’re a lot less likely to get questioned.” Faolan held up two scraps of parchment. “I drew maps of the tunnels I know just in case we get separated. It’s like a maze in there, meant to keep people in like a trap. Every tunnel looks the same, and there are hundreds of turns that lead nowhere. They took over an old, abandoned mining operation from before the Twelve Kingdoms were formed, and they left most of the exits sealed.” He handed them to us, and we both thanked him.

“I don’t expect to see any elders, but if we do, I will have to hide my face and not speak. Say I took a vow of silence for the Goddess or something.”

“I’m sure something will come to me.” Maybe I was too confident with my ability, but it felt good. It felt like the one piece I could control in the uncontrollable.

I don’t think anyone we told of our departure really thought this would work, but I knew it was true. As real as I felt the ground under my feet, I knew where I’d find the egg. In fact, I’d foreseen finding several, and I knew Hazel would be able to tell me which was Alora’s.

Maybe this was my purpose, righting the wrong and doing something real, exposing what the priests were doing before I lost myself. I could live with that. It gave me purpose. But it broke my heart that my purpose had to come between me and Hazel. I would stay with her as long as the Goddess let me, though. I swore this to myself.

“Are you ready?

“Yes,” they both confirmed.

We loaded our robes with the supplies we’d brought, and we were ready.

“Faolan, you lead the way, and we can deviate when I feel something.”

We had to climb into the tunnel entrance and work our way inside. It wasn’t an obvious entrance, and it was in a hard-to-reach place for a reason.

We made our way through the tunnels and took turns as my gut told me to, but we came upon dead end after dead end. For hours we wandered, and even Faolan seemed to be lost.

“Why can’t I find them?” I whispered through my teeth when we met another dead end. “Are we sure these aren’t blocked off passages?”

“Unless there is a way to conjure solid stone I am unaware of, no.” Faolan spun around, exhaling. “This is the purpose. Can you not feel it like you thought you would?”

Hazel walked up to the wall, pressing her hands against it. “Maybe I can sense the eggs?”

Faolan looked at her. “Through all this dirt? That would be a feat, but go ahead, give it a try.”

“Do you have a better idea?” she snapped at him.

“What if I try to channel the foresight, see if I can get something more specific?” I asked.

She frowned immediately. “What if I can’t get you back? I don’t think you should willingly put yourself in an episode when you can’t control it. Maybe in a controlled environment, but not here.”

“Maybe you should let him try.” Faolan met my gaze. “He’s been right about a lot of things thus far.”

Hazel glared at Faolan but reluctantly waved for me to try it. I knew that was the best I was getting.

I had no fucking clue how to do any of this, but Hazel had been teaching me how to shield myself in our very limited down time. She’d tried to show me how to shield my magic from myself when the foresight started to get bad, but I hadn’t gotten the hang of it yet. It felt like I’d be cutting off a vital organ I didn’t even know I had. I needed it to breathe.

But I wasn’t trying to do that now. I took everything Hazel told me and reversed it, and a vision rushed at me. I absorbed it, and then with everything I had in me, I reached out for Hazel. Even with the power overcoming me, I knew she was there. She held my hands, and I felt her drawing on my power. Then, before I knew what was happening, it was over. I was back in the tunnel, exhausted, but now I knew where to go.

“Come on,” I panted, catching my breath. “The guard is changing. We only have a short time.”

We turned three more corners and walked into a cavern filled with warming baskets cradling the dragon eggs. Right where I knew it would be.

“Is there any magical protection?” I asked, glancing around. I was worried about walking into a trap, but it felt safe. I just didn’t have the experience to know if I was missing something.

Faolan cocked his head, listening. “There’s no wards, and the guards are in the next chamber.”

“They’re switching shifts and filling each other in.” Hazel’s eyes lit up. “They have no idea we’re here.”

“How long do you think we have?” I asked, reaching under my robes for the opening to the padded pouches we’d had sown into the robes.

“Maybe ten minutes,” Hazel said, still listening.

“You find Alora’s egg,” I said to Hazel. “Faolan, you listen. I’m going to collect as many as we can to bring with us. Hazel, when you find it, go. Don’t wait and take more. Get out of here with it. Stick with the plan.”

“I didn’t know there would be this many,” she murmured as she walked deeper into the room. “We’ll rescue as many as we can.”

She slowed her breathing as I moved basket to basket, slipping the eggs into the pouches and replacing them with dummies we’d brought with us. A dragon would know, but the priests shouldn’t unless they checked them for health. Still, we’d have time to get away.

I didn’t have enough space for all of them, and neither did Faolan. The three of us couldn’t do it alone, but we’d restore a lot of them to their parents, and that was something. But it killed me to know we would have to leave some behind, and I knew it would haunt Hazel—Faolan, too. I kept collecting eggs, moving as quickly as I could without making noise, and Faolan followed me so I could fill his pouches, too.

Hazel was in the back corner with an egg in her hands, eyes closed. It was the one. I already knew.

“Go,” I told her.

“Give me a few. We have time.” She pleaded with her eyes. “I don’t know if I can make it out of here without you. It’s better we all stay together.”

I looked at Faolan. “What do you think?”

He tilted his head side to side. “Maybe a couple. We have to get as many as we can.”

I quickly filled the space Hazel had with the ones from my robes. If anyone was getting caught in this, it was me. I then made them wait outside the chamber as I grabbed a few more. We were only leaving a few, and I prayed the priests or whoever was guarding this place wouldn’t notice right away as I slipped out to join them.

“How are we?”

Faolan grabbed me, and that told me enough. We ran carefully, trying to keep our steps from echoing in the tunnels.

I knew the way out suddenly and without a vision of it. Like my intuition used to work before. We didn’t come upon anyone, and I could only believe it was because I’d kept myself from finding the location before the time was right. When we were clear of the tunnels and safe from detection, we stopped. It was time to part ways, and I was not happy about it, but my gut told me it was the right thing to do.

We packed the eggs for me to carry on the flight home, and Hazel grabbed me, kissing me hard.

“Make it back to me,” I pleaded

“I will,” she promised. Then she shifted and picked up the sack with Alora’s egg, giving me one last look before launching into the air and heading for the Storm Kingdom.