I take it one day at a time, she replied.
Maija didn’t ask anything more about her sister’s experience. After bonding with Raffa, Maija knew she would be devastated if she lost him and they had only been together for little less than a month. Maija knew her sister had been bonded with Vieadore for years. Raffa’s mental presence reminded her of what he’d said earlier about not letting fear consume her. Focusing, she attempted to fine-tune her searching abilities with magic while Natalia’s sad story replayed in the back of her mind.
Several hours later, she saw it, columns of smoke rising in the distance. Maija’s stomach turned at the sight. No, we’re too late, she thought.
We don't know that for sure; it’s just smoke, Raffa responded.
“Smoke on the horizon,” Natalia said, pointing her hand just past Maija’s face. Prepare yourself for anything, she added, switching to mindspeak.
Maija felt Anders’ mind reaching out to hers. She opened her link with his and heard him say, Zahara and I are going to fly out ahead and see what’s burning. You and Raffa hang back in case it’s a trap.
Anders, no, she blurted through their shared thoughts. We need to do this together.
We're still doing this together, we just need to be smart about it, okay?
But separating isn’t smart. The city is just ahead, Maija said.
Zahara and I can fly faster. If there’s something strange, we’ll turn back and catch up with you. If something were to go wrong, the Army would suffer a greater loss if we both went down. I’m just going to fly ahead and see what the smoke is about.
I hope it's just a wildfire, Maija said.
Me, too, Anders replied.
He didn’t say it to her, but she could feel his love for her. She reciprocated the emotion and watched as they sped ahead. We’re going to hang back and wait to see what he finds out about the apparent fire, Maija told Raffa and Natalia.
You’re not going to stick together? Natalia asked.
Zahara’s faster than we are; if there’s a reason to flee, speed will be better than strength. I don’t want to rush into a situation without knowing what we’re getting into, Maija said.
So, you did learn something from my mistakes, Natalia said.
I do not want to see Zahara in harm’s way, Raffa added.
We can stay just close enough to stay in contact with Anders and Zahara, that way we’ll be ready to help them or run, Maija said.
Raffa seemed to agree with her idea and slowed his pace. He dropped in elevation, keeping low in case other dragons or riders were nearby. Soon Aquina came into full view. Maija looked south to the Bareback River. She had thought that perhaps the Rollo ships had made much faster time than they’d anticipated and they were defending the city. Her thoughts were quickly proven wrong when she saw the wide river empty as far as she could see to the south. Knowing that the river didn’t lie much lower than the plains, Maija could’ve seen the ships’ masts if they had made it up the river. As they neared the outskirts of the city, Maija felt Anders trying to communicate with her.
We need to hide. There’s fighting in the city. Do you see the river ahead? he asked.
Yes, the Rollo Islanders are not here yet, she told him.
Zahara and I are at the river. Come in low and the smoke should hide you. We’re just north of the city. We’ll wait for you here.
Maija relayed the information to Raffa and Natalia. Keeping her mind’s eye on the lookout, Maija held onto the saddle as Raffa dropped to fly just over the ground. Just as Anders instructed, they glided in just north of the city. Thick smoke puffed up from the northeast side of the city, growing more dense as they neared the river. Maija didn’t know what the smoke was hiding them from, but she couldn’t see beyond it. Anders touched on her again; they were too far south of his hiding place. Staying just above the water, Raffa followed Anders’ directions north to their location. Landing on the river’s edge, Maija and Natalia leapt down from their saddle and joined Anders on the bank’s slope.
“Did you see them?” Anders asked.
Maija glanced at Natalia and they both shook their heads. “We couldn’t see beyond the smoke,” Maija replied.
“What did you see?” Natalia asked.
“A pack of fairnheir,” Anders replied. “But I could sense another sorcerer nearby. I think it’s one of Merglan’s riders.”
“Did they feel you?” Natalia asked.
Anders shook his head, “I don’t think they did.”
“Good,” she said.
“You couldn’t see them, and they likely didn’t see you either, then they probably don’t know we’re here,” Maija reasoned.
Anders nodded, “So we have surprise on our side.”
“Did you see how many fairnheir?” Natalia asked.
“I only saw them at a distance,” Anders said. “As soon as we noticed them, we came in low behind the smoke and remained low. I’ve been glancing over the bank, but it’s too far to tell.”
“And the Rollo warriors aren’t here,” Maija added.
“They should be here soon, though,” Anders said. “Britt thought it would only take them about four days.”
“It’s been three,” Maija said.
“Yep, that’s where I accounted for the ‘about’ part of her guess,” Anders said.
She could tell that Anders was thinking up a plan and asked, “So what do we do now?”
Chapter 89
