Rustling leaves. My eyes snap open. Dathid's asleep next to me. A twig cracks. He jumps to his feet. I try to jump up too, but my leg is too stiff and up in an awkward squat.
"It's Goutadge," he says.
Someone the size of a rhinoceros is at the edge of our camp, and neither of us heard her approach. I roll to my back and take a deep breath. I feel my entire body shaking but show no evidence of it as my steady hands slide my knife back into its sheath. Images flash across my brain of the last time the three of us were together in the woods.
From somewhere in the woods, Solara's disembodied voice says, "Okay, you can put me down now." I hear her thump to the ground before I see her pop out from behind Goutadage. "Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine," Dathid answers as he lifts me to my feet. "Did you find anyone else?"
She shakes her head and plops her pack by the fire. "No, everyone's staying put. They're all locked down and ready." Spiny thorns cover them. The ones coating Goutage's long face look especially painful. "We went out the back. Not a good idea. The only thing that saved us was her thick skin. How you feeling?" she asks Goutadge.
Goutadge lets out a loud wail as she drops to all four legs. I think it means dreadful. I'm happy she's here, but without Jonah, communication is a problem. She grunts as she ambles over to me like a bull in armor. I automatically start pulling thorns from her snout.
Other than the time Goutadge licked my eye, I've never touched her. Her skin is rough like sandpaper and speckled in blues in pinks. From a distance, it's sky blue, but up close, it reminds me of the countertops in my kitchen in Queens. Auntie's kitchen—that was a prison, not a home. She tries to help, but she breaks more thorns than she pulls because her fingers are too thick. After what I believe is an argument, she agrees to stop and stands patiently while I work my way around her massive body.
Dathid helps Solara. With so many thorns in her back, it looks like she's grown fur. How can such a tiny body withstand that much poison? She's done pretty quick because her back and ankles took the brunt of the vines. Once those areas are clean, all three of us pull thorns from Goutadge.
When we're done, Solara limps over and hands me a small sack. "We got what you need."
I look inside to find the Orb and plaque resting at the bottom. "Where's the other one?"
Solara sends a panicked look to Dathid. "I thought there were only two."
"Agatha, only you could see the other plaque," he says.
Solara lets out a breath. "Whoa, scared me. I was trying to devise a plan to go back in." She slumps to the ground and washes her feet.
Dathid puts his arm around my back and squeezes me the way Jonah does. When did he learn that? "You okay?"
I guess I failed at hiding my confusion and disappointment. "Yeah," I answer, looking back in the bag—still only one plaque. "I don't understand. Carfron and his plaque are gone."
Goutadge roars out something that's supposed to be English. I feel bad she learned the language, but not the accent. Her melodic way of talking reminds me of bagpipes, or a cow, or a cow playing bagpipes. I recognize my name, but that's it.
Solara pours dirt out of her boot. "I don't think so."
"You understand her?" Dathid asks.
"Not all of it. But we've been working together for a while now, so we've adjusted to each other's ways."
"What did she say?" he asks, surprisingly polite. When did Dathid get patience? And niceness? And hugs?
"She asked if Agatha could make the other plaque appear. I told her I didn't think so."
"Yes, we understood your side," he snaps, his patience gone. I'm relieved he's back to normal.
I peer into the bag again and attempt to make the other plaque appear. Then I turn my attention to the woods and try to make Carfron come to me. Then I call to him.
"Well," Dathid asks.
I shake my head. "Nothing."
"Who are we waiting for?" Solara asks after a moment.
I thought she meant Carfron, but then Dathid shrugs and says, "Everyone, this is it."
Goutadge bellows, and Solara translates. "Faphee's stuck in the castle. I saw her running with Princess Elaeria when the vine struck."
Dathid's face loses its color. I'm surprised he's so calm when he asks, "Was Galia with them?"
"Yes. When I was in the lower hall, all the royals were heading to the bunkers."
Dathid nods. He might be speechless or possibly emotional. I change the subject to give him time to recover. "Who's left to show up?"
"Jonah was trying to get to Kyrbast," Solara says with a shake of her head. "But I'm not sure the old man can make it through those vines. I didn't see Tadin."
Matban Tadin is her second in command. It sounds like he's part of the team now. He's not a wise choice. He's a rigid guy, and the odds are not good that he'll get along with Dathid.
"I'm surprised he hasn't made it here yet." Apparently, Dathid's fully aware of the new team. I wish someone would've told me. "It may take Jonah a while if he was able to grab the old wizard."
"How'd you get that?" Solara asks Dathid, eying the meat by his feet.
"I got it," I say, offended she asked him. I want to slap the surprised look off her face. Instead, I ignore her, pick up the sweater of facing moss and feed the fire.
Dathid effortlessly skewers our dinner and hangs it low over the fire. That's all there is to do, so we sit in uncomfortable silence listening to Goutadge snore. Evidently, that vine originates from her part of the world. She ate a lot of it, overstuffed herself, and fell asleep.
It takes a long time for the big hunk of meat to cook, or maybe the company just makes it feel that way. When we finally pull it off the fire, I'm too bored to eat it. Dathid gives me a few looks, but the easily flowing conversation we had earlier stopped once we had guests.
"Help!" Kyrbast yells, but it's very faint. Without a word or a thought, everyone is charging through the woods with swords drawn. We find him riding a lilac unicorn I've never met, with an unconscious Qince draped across his lap.
"Help," he repeats when he sees us.
Dathid reaches him first and yanks Qince to the ground.
"What happened?" Solara asks as she checks for a pulse.
"The vine," Kyrbast says in a shaking voice. "He was unconscious when we found him."
I help Kyrbast down. "Can you walk?" Without even waiting for an answer, Dathid flings Qince over his shoulder, jumps on the unicorn, and gallops up the hill.
Kyrbast nods. I wrap my arm around his waist to support him while everyone else races after Dathid. "How are you?" I ask. He leans heavily on me as we make our way slowly and unsteadily toward camp.
"I'm fine. Oh, what's happening in that castle. That pitiful young man."
"Are you injured?" That should've been what I asked.
"No, just a few bumps. I haven't ridden a unicorn in many years. It's a bit jarring. We were moving along fine until we came upon that poor fellow and his friends."
I'm not sure if the group knows that Qince had friends with him. Maybe I should stop the conversation here and wait for Dathid, but he's busy with Qince. "What friends? He wasn't supposed to leave the castle." Or maybe he's a team member. I wish I knew how to get the people in charge of me to include me. Or at least inform me of what's been decided for me.
"From what I gather, he and two others freed the Chimnocki. One boy is dead. The other ran away. Jonah went after the Chimnocki."
"What? Why wasn't I told there was a Chimnocki? It was freed? So it was in prison. Who imprisoned it? And why did Qince free it?"
"Those are all excellent questions. Seeing as I also didn't know there was a Chimnocki prisoner and I never met this Qince, I don't believe I'm qualified to answer."
I smile at his silly answer. "Glad you're feeling better. Your color's improving too. You sure you're okay?"
"Yes, as I said before. It was rough seeing the chaos of the castle and then coming across your friend, but all in all, it was an easy journey."
I give him a grim face. "You're going to have to show me how to make stronger shields."
"You're here, so you must've done well."