Cloak of Night (Circle of Shadows #2) - Evelyn Skye Page 0,6

he didn’t want her; he was with Fairy. If Sora was a good friend, she’d stop whining to herself and be happy for them.

Sora swallowed the truth, but it went down like bitter tonic.

Broomstick chewed on his nails, studying all three of them. He made a small noise under his breath.

“What?” Sora said.

“Nothing.”

She frowned.

But he just moved on. “Really, it’s not important. Tell us the plan. That’s what matters right now.”

Sora sighed. He was right.

“We’ll go back to the Imperial City,” she said, “and cross the Field of Illusions together. Once we’re all across, I think we should split up into pairs. Fairy and Broomstick know every room, corridor, and hidden passageway in the Citadel, so they’ll search for Empress Aki there. Daemon and I will look for her in Prince Gin’s castle.”

“How long until we regroup?” Broomstick said. “We should set a rendezvous time.”

“Good idea. Is four hours enough?”

“Too long,” Daemon said. “We don’t know what we’re walking into. Although it’s probably a death trap.”

“Come on. I know it’s daunting, but we can do this,” Sora said. “Besides, they’ve just taken over the Imperial City. They’re probably still cleaning up after a massive battle, shepherding newly converted taigas into training, and settling into a new castle. The ryuu can’t possibly be organized yet.”

Fairy leaned in. “How about three hours? It’s enough time to cover the most likely places the empress could be kept prisoner. And if anything seems even a little suspicious, we abort.”

“I like it,” Sora said. “Three hours from when we split up, we’ll meet in the chestnut grove in Jade Forest. Remember, the number one priority is rescuing Empress Aki.”

“And if we have a shot at killing the Dragon Prince?” Daemon asked.

Sora swallowed. “If we have a chance to kill Prince Gin, we take it.”

Chapter Five

Daemon’s clothes were only a little damp by the time they reached the Imperial City. They’d wanted to come back right away, but because he couldn’t yet summon his wolf powers at will, he couldn’t fly them there, which meant they needed to budget enough time to swim across the channel from Isle of the Moon to Kichona’s main island, then make their way on foot from the coast to the Imperial City before infiltrating the Dragon Prince’s castle. Even with sailfish and cheetah spells, the journey would take a couple hours. Plus, there was the time required to actually search for Empress Aki and, hopefully, kill Prince Gin. Besides, this wasn’t the sort of mission one rushed through. So they’d decided to wait until sunset to break into the city.

Honestly, Daemon still doubted their ability to save the kingdom on their own, but if the rest of them were in, he was, too, and he would do everything he could to keep them safe.

Now, as the cloak of night settled over the kingdom, he, Sora, Fairy, and Broomstick stood on the edge of the Field of Illusions. Its black-and-white sands shifted incessantly in dizzying optical illusions. Sometimes there were whirlpool-like spirals that seemed to suck the sand into the ground. Other times, diamond fractals kept changing color, making them hard to keep track of. And then there were the constantly moving black-and-white waves that rocked the brain into a kind of psychological seasickness. Only taigas could traverse the Field of Illusions successfully; any non-taigas who wanted to enter the Imperial City needed a warrior to escort them across. Otherwise, they’d lose their way.

“How do you want to do this?” Sora asked. There were many ways to approach crossing the obstacle; the only common thread was not to look at the changing patterns, because they were meant to cause confusion.

“Broomstick and I are going to use mole spells,” Fairy said.

“I don’t really feel like digging tonight,” Sora said. “But you two go ahead.”

Daemon knew that wasn’t why she objected, though. She did it for him. Mole spells allowed taigas to burrow beneath the illusions and travel quickly, but for a boy who constantly craved the openness of the sky, being buried under several feet of sand was more than a little anxiety inducing for Daemon. Sora had spoken up so he didn’t have to admit yet another weakness. Gratefulness overflowed in Daemon’s chest, like a mug of beer filled to the brim, foam spilling out of the glass.

He looked at the Citadel, several hundred yards away. With the onset of night, the ryuu had lit torches on the tops of the fortress walls. “We can use hydra spells,” Daemon said to