Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
I didn’t let myself consider it when she was with the Teeth, and I wouldn’t let myself consider it now. “Not going to happen.”
“You’re the one who should get some sleep, Huntley. You’re the one who’s going to keep us alive.”
Days passed, and we traveled in silence.
She stood guard most of the time so I could sleep, and as the days wore on, her eyes became redder. Her face lost its color. She was just going through the motions, waiting until we reached our destination.
Thankfully, we didn’t draw unwanted attention, and we made it across the island and deeper into the jungle. Once it became dragon territory, I dropped my guard a bit, knowing the outcasts wouldn’t venture this far toward the beasts.
They couldn’t fly, but they could still rip a man into two separate halves.
Ivory walked ahead so I could keep an eye on her, and she was too tired to pay attention to her movements, because she tripped on a pebble and nearly smacked her face into the earth.
I caught her by the arm just in time. “We’ll stop for the night so you can get some sleep.”
She let me pull her back up and didn’t give an argument.
That was how I knew how tired she was. I scooped her into my arms and cradled her against my chest.
Her arms locked around my neck, and she rested her head against my chest. Her eyes dropped like heavy curtains, and she was immediately out.
She was lighter than the feathers in my mother’s hair, so I carried her deep into the jungle without any exertion. It was easier than letting her walk on her own, at least when she was this tired and might snap her ankle on a branch.
Hours later, I made camp in the thickness of the trees, and she immediately went to sleep in the bedroll. Didn’t eat dinner. Just went straight to sleep. I made a fire to cook the meat I’d caught, knowing we were far enough away from the outcasts to get away with it. With only the fire and my wife’s deep breaths for company, I looked at the stars between the branches and pretended we were somewhere else.
28
IVORY
When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was how hungry I was.
Correction. How starving I was.
My stomach gave a loud growl as I sat up and blinked through the sunshine. It was definitely past morning. I could tell by the heat level. I sat up and saw Huntley come into my view.
He handed me a plate of meat, potatoes, and some exotic fruit.
I was so hungry, I took it without question.
He gave a quiet chuckle before he stomped out the fire. “You slept for over twelve hours.”
“No surprise there…” Traveling across the island felt like a terrible dream that I’d imagined in my head. The dragons should be far more dangerous than the outcasts, but I’d take a dragon over those psychopaths any day.
He took a seat on a nearby boulder, one knee up with his forearm against it.
In silence, I ate, and the stiffness in my back made me miss our bed at home. When I finished everything, I felt like a new person, a person who got a full night of rest and a full breakfast and dinner combined into one. “How far are we?”
“Maybe fifteen minutes.”
“Oh, I didn’t know we were that close.”
“Ready for this?”
I’d read all the books and made all the notes, but there was no way for me to prepare for this part. “Uh…I guess.”
“That doesn’t sound promising.”
“I’m sure I can heal them. The question is, will they allow me to heal them? Because I have to touch them.”
“Last time we were here, the dragon didn’t seem hostile.”
“Maybe because we’d just fed him.”
“Well, I have a boar to bring with us.” He nodded to the carcass on the ground. “As a peace offering.”
“Hope that’s enough…”
We left the camp and approached the edge of the forest toward the mountainside. The trees began to thin, and more of the searing sunshine made it through the disappearing canopy. Farther we went until we saw the caverns.
In the exact spot where we were last time, we peered into the shadows and saw nothing.
“You think they’re in there?”
“If they weren’t, you’d know.”
I stood behind the last tree before the open clearing, peering into the darkness, wondering if they were staring back at me this very moment.
Huntley dragged the boar away from the trees then tossed it in front of the open cave. He cut the animal right down the middle, opening the body and revealing the entrails so the smell would be fragrant.
Huntley returned to my side, and we both waited.
Nothing happened.
For a very long time.
I turned to him. “I’m not walking in there.”
“Didn’t tell you to.”
“What if they don’t come out?”
“They will.”