Voices in the distance wake me from a disturbing dream. I inhale deeply with a loud shuttering wheeze. My lungs burn like I'm sucking in embers from the fire. I roll to my knees as water lurches up my throat. I inhale deeply and heave the water from my lungs. I suck in more air and cough a few more times. Jonah's rubbing my back. I pull myself up to sit and wipe the tears from my eyes. Jonah hands me a rag to wipe my mouth.
"I see the water," Dathid mumbles.
"I don't." Jonah looks briefly at him. Then whispers, "Agatha, how are you?'
I take a deep breath. Everything works fine. "I'm good. It's just like last time." My voice is hoarse.
"Except this time, you were unconscious."
I study the scared faces of my friends and then around at what should be our camp. I'm on a mossy bed similar to the one Kyrbast made, but it's not the same bed, and this is not the same camp. My heart rate jumps back up. "This isn't right. I was in the woods talking to Dathid. We were laughing about Galia."
"That was two days ago," Dathid says. "When you wouldn't wake up, we decided to make a run for Houte Malle. We stopped to give the unicorns a rest."
"Is it just the two of you?" I ask
"Yes, we needed to move fast. The others are behind us," Jonah answers.
I stand up and look around. Everything has changed. "This isn't right."
Jonah's warm hand is on my shoulder. I'm in the woods, but the trees are different. Stryder and Scout are by a small fire and the Orb bag is tied around Dathid's waist. I can't determine if this is a hallucination or if I'm racing through the woods with them.
"Agatha, talk to me," Jonah says.
I touch his chin. He feels real, but so does Carfron. How can I test to see if this Jonah's real? He could stick his foot in the fire, but if he's real that would hurt him. Carfron doesn't answer questions and doesn't use a lot of words.
"Tell me a story," I say.
The hand on my shoulder guides me to a nearby log. I sit on the ground and lean against it with Jonah next to me. I must be getting a long story if we have to sit for it or he's stalling for time while he thinks of something.
"When I left you at Cromsmead, I went back to Brooklyn to visit the family I'd been staying with for about three years, until I met you. Her name was Julia, and she passed me one day on her way home from her second job. Her sadness was killing her. I sense that a lot in New York. Some people are so desperate, it drains the life out of them. She was like a zombie. So sad but determined to trudge on."
"I followed her and gave what comfort I could, but she was so deep into herself she couldn't feel I was there. We went back to her tiny apartment, and I met her four children. The oldest was eight, and the youngest was two."
"As soon as the door opened, she started her third job, cleaning, homework, and getting children to bed. The two-year-old, Lucy, could see me. I'd entertain her at night so her mother could sleep. Stephen was four. I was his imaginary friend. He thought I was a zebra and called me Sam."
"I walked the children to school and kept them out of trouble. I'd sit with Julia on the couch at night to let her know she wasn't alone. When I found you, I abandon her and the children. I had to go back and give them a proper goodbye, even if they never knew I was there in the first place."
He finishes his story, and I know without a doubt this is the real Jonah. I love him to the depths of my soul, and I hope he never leaves me like he did Julia.
I pat his shoulder. "I'm glad you're real."
"I'm glad you're real, too. Can we get moving?" Dathid snaps.
"Can I get some food first? I'm starving," I snap back. He hands me a branch with a bunch of berries dangling off of it.
I pop a berry in my mouth. It tastes like dirt, but I'm hungry, so I eat another. "How'd we get here?"
Jonah repeats the story of how I lost consciousness. They tried to revive me, and when they couldn't, it was decided they needed more help. Jonah and Dathid took two unicorns and made a run for Houte Malle, leaving the rest to break camp and get Kyrbast there safely.
We're traveling light. It looks as if the only things they brought were the water packets and a fire stone.
"Do you recall any dreams or anything that may help us?"
I shake my head. "No, I was drowning. That's weird. I drowned, for real. I drowned" Cold fear envelopes me. I experienced death without dying. My fingers tingle and I shake my entire body to snap myself out of those thoughts. Jonah attempts to hug me. I guess he can sense where my thoughts are going.
I jump up to let my body keep pace with my racing thoughts. "Honestly, I was so confused. For me, I passed out for like a second. That's why I thought I might be dreaming."
"How do you feel now?"
"Fine," I lie. "Let's ride. These berries are awful." I take the bunch and shove them into my mouth. I need to eat, but I was prolonging my agony by eating them one at a time. I shove as many as I can in my mouth and eat the bunch like it's an ear of corn. It's a messy method, but it's over quickly.
Dathid's laughing, but he looks disgusted. "Don't judge me. I'm hungry," I say.
"I didn't say a word." The grin on his stupid face tells me something different. I wipe my mouth on my sleeve, forgetting that I'm wearing armor. The dragon scale scrapes across my face, and I pull away with a grunt.
Dathid hands me a rag. "You've been in the woods too long. You're turning into an animal."
I snatch the rag and glare at him as I wipe my face. Then I slap it back in his hand. "You missed a spot," he says and pushes the rag into my face.
A squeal of laughter escapes as I fall sideways to the ground and kick him in the back. I reach up to smack him, but he grabs my arm and spins me around. I'm laughing so hard I can't breathe. I'm also losing. He had surprise and strength on his side.
"Say Faeries are better than humans," he commands as he flips me upside down and pins my arms behind my back.
"Never!" is the only word I can get out through my giggles.
"Enough, put her down," Jonah commands.
Dathid opens his arms, and I fall to the ground with a grunt.
"Such a jerk," I say with a smile as I jump to my feet and whack him in the wing. Not too hard, his wings are sensitive, but enough to make him feel it.
Jonah has already put out the fire. Dathid kicks the moss, and we cover up as much evidence as we can that shows we've been here. A good tracker would never be fooled, but if someone passed by, they'd never notice.
"I'm not riding with you. You're bad luck," I say to Dathid.
"I'm not riding with you either. You're trying to kill me."
Getting somewhere quick on a unicorn isn't about riding fast; it's about riding forever. We have bouts of a loping canter, but honestly, it's not much faster than walking, which is what we do most of the time. Fortunately, I have Jonah to lean against. I was riding behind him, but I fell so soundly asleep I fell off Stryder. Now I have to ride in front, so he can keep a hold of me.
It's incredibly boring. Dathid's in the lead, and by the way his head is angled, it's obvious he's sleeping. The unicorns can go a great distance if they can grab random weeds and a drink at every body of water we pass.
Conversation ended a long time ago. No one has the energy to form words. Occasionally, Jonah will ask if the Orb is doing anything or if I dreamt something, but the answer is no. I don't have the energy for the Orb. We barely have time to kill something and eat it raw before it's time to go again.
Dathid spots the town on top of the hill long before we're anywhere near it. At first, it gave me hope that there was an end to this grueling trip, but we ride for hours, and it doesn't seem to get any closer. We take two more breaks before we reach the dirt road leading to a line of oversized guards blocking the road. I'm awake now.
Dathid stops, and Jonah pulls up alongside him. "I don't speak Eurynomon," Dathid says.
"I'll talk to them. Be ready," Jonah orders.
He slides off of Stryder and walks up to the guards. Dathid's next to me with his hand on his sword. I put my hand on my sword too, but honestly, there are eight of them, and they're as big as Jonah. If this doesn't go well, we won't win the fight.
The guards are at least seven feet tall. A narrow waist makes their broad shoulders appear even wider. I'm hoping the long spike jutting from their shoulders and piercing the bronzed skulls of a large fanged animal is just an embellishment on their armor and not part of their anatomy.
Their face, which I'm hoping is a mask, is the most terrifying part of them. It's sculpted in the shape of a bull's skull but without eye holes or teeth. It's a jagged downward point with sharp antelope-like horns jutting out the top. There's no facial features to focus my eye on. Just ridges with no obvious eye or air holes.
Jonah and the guards are saying words, but it sounds more like a dog fight. Stryder dances under me, but I hold him in place. I adjust my sweaty palm on my sword and watch for trouble. Jonah takes two steps back, then pivots around to face us.
He says nothing when he jumps up behind me and pulls me close to him. He puts his leg on top of mine and rests his arms over my shoulders. I'm pinned against him and almost completely encased in the folds of his robe. Why are we coming here if he needs to hide me?
"They don't see well. I'm hoping they think you're a part of me," he whispers in my ear. "Keep your hand on your sword.