fingers under the leather to check its tightness, then grabbed one of Arrow’s neck spines and climbed up. He snapped the harness carabiner into place and tugged the leg straps tight one-handed. Mounting up had become as easy as slipping on a pair of well-worn boots. He looked at Jinhai. “See you, soon.”
Jinhai offered Kalai a salute.
* * *
Kalai left Arrow in a copse of trees near the ruined district to the south where few guards patrolled. Pulling up the hood of his thin, dark gray jacket, he entered the city through the eastern gate, following the perimeter of the outer wall before slipping into the darkness between buildings. He resisted pulling up his scarf to hide his face. It would only make him look more suspicious.
He felt eyes on him as he neared the ruins, steering clear of rubble around the old tower. Slipping through the fence, he looked up.
The Solar Tower was in worse shape than he remembered.
What remained was only half as tall as the Sunrise Tower. The lower floors were intact, but the wooden window shutters had long since rotted and broken apart in storms past.
“Shit,” Kalai murmured, walking in a circle around the building, but it was the same from all angles. Only two floors had dragon balconies with doors still intact, but Kalai had a feeling it would take some work to seal the gaps well enough to keep out toxic fumes drifting on the wind. They hardly had those kinds of resources. He barely knew how to pull off getting fifty dragons into Valreus without a fight. Tightness in his chest threatened to turn into a dull ache. Had he made the wrong choice bringing the dragons to Valreus? There was another volcano to the south of them. Between the two was nothing but empty stretches of land with no shelter and few villages. Farther to the east, the Cadell volcano threatened. They might find shelter in Irades, but that seemed riskier than Valreus with everything Falka had set into motion. And they were running out of time.
Kalai closed his eyes and took a breath. He thought about the day he’d fed Sparrow a sandwich through the open window in the archive. He had flipped through a book detailing underground cave systems on the north coast, used by smugglers for hundreds of years before they had been abandoned. Skies, if only he’d paid better attention. As far as he remembered, some caves had crumbled. They would hardly be safe during earthquakes.
Kalai opened his eyes. The tower ruin was a sad, lonely giant on its knees. The caves couldn’t be worse than that. They wouldn’t keep out toxic particles, but if they hung tarps to keep out the worst of it, it would be better than nothing. Most of the dragons might still live.
Turning, Kalai jogged back to the fence, slipped through, and headed north. He remembered the book, and he remembered where he’d left it - on the third shelf from the left on the case beside the desk. The book had a map with coordinates. They could leave for the caves as soon as he returned to Jinhai and be safe before nightfall.
But what about Tauran and Ibi-shao? Catria and Sorcha?
Kalai paused where the street opened and split into a ‘T’. The buildings here were newer, scattered lights on in the windows. The calm before the storm. Soon, Valreus might mirror Kel Visal. He turned right and stopped a transport carriage, spending his last silver scales on a trip to the city center.
The city was quiet. If Tauran had come flying in on the back of a titan, he would expect more panic and upheaval than the sight of two young boys kicking a ball between the wheels of the carriage would inspire.
Maybe Tauran had left Ibi-shao outside the city and gone inside with Catria on foot or horseback. But then, if Ibi-shao was in the area, surely the wild dragons would have known.
Kalai rubbed his temple, flinching when the carriage hit a pothole. He tried desperately to think of a reason Tauran could be anywhere but locked up or already buried six feet under. Tauran had promised him he’d be careful. He wouldn’t get himself killed after making such a promise.
“Sir!”
Kalai looked up, realizing the driver had already called out more than once. He climbed out and thanked him, then headed quickly toward the narrower streets, away from the main road.
Lilypetal Street was thankfully empty. Kalai hesitated. The door would no