it the rest of the way across the open space. Luckily, only a single curious guard paused his rounds to stare. At least now, they could lie and say the cow was for Sorcha, however strange it was for them to be hauling it along like this in the middle of the night.
“Why do I always get dragged into your shady business?” Catria whispered tensely, holding Tauran’s borrowed horse while he loaded the cow onto the wagon.
“’Cause you’re a darling.” Tauran stepped around and curled a hand behind her head, pressing a brief kiss to her cheekbone. “And a wonderful friend.”
Catria rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t hide her smile. “Well, I can’t quite be mad at whatever brought on that spark in your eyes. So long as it wasn’t whiskey.”
“Not whiskey. Promise,” Tauran said, trying hard not to think of Kalai. “Please keep quiet about this. I owe you so much.”
Catria opened her mouth to reply, but whatever she was about to say was drowned by the deafening howls of a siren.
Tauran flinched, for one ridiculous moment thinking the alarm was meant for him.
But it was much bigger than that.
The ground lights flickered on one by one along the perimeter, shouts and footfalls sounding from across the grounds in the intervals between the howling siren.
“What’s happening?” Tauran asked.
Catria wasn’t looking at him, but at the sky. “Wild Sky alert. I have to go!”
“Wild what?” Tauran grabbed her hand as she turned to leave. “What’s that?”
“Wild dragons,” she shouted over the siren. “I have to get Sorcha.”
“Wild dragons,” Tauran repeated, his voice entirely drowned out by the noise as he watched her go. He tilted his head back. The sky was clear. The guards in the tower must have spotted something on the horizon.
Was this one of the wild dragon attacks Falka and Roric had mentioned?
It was as good a distraction as any.
Grabbing the horse’s reins, he hushed it softly when it stomped and tossed its head. “It’s all right, bud. We’re getting out of here.” Hopping into the wagon, he flicked the reins. The horse didn’t need much encouragement to get away from the noise.
Tauran didn’t have to worry about traversing the well-lit streets. No city guards would stop to ask him about a wagon with a siren loud enough to wake the dead lighting up every window around him.
When he reached Watercress Avenue, the siren stopped.
In the wake of total silence, a new sound followed. The rush of wind under wings. And not just one pair, but countless. Roars and screeches echoed between the buildings, replacing the ringing in Tauran’s ears.
“Easy,” he murmured to the horse and flicked the reins. Large bodies blocked the moon, making the shadows flicker. Tauran pulse quickened. He craned his neck, but he couldn’t see anything more than glimpses of wings. He had to get to Kalai.
He’d been worried rubble near the Solar Tower would make it impossible to get the wagon through, but luck was on his side. When Tauran pulled the wagon to a stop, Kalai came toward him, climbing through the broken fence.
“What’s happening?” Kalai asked, his eyes wide in the darkness.
“Wild dragon attack. Is Arrow in the tower?”
Kalai nodded.
“Help me with this.” Stepping around to the wagon, Tauran dragged the half cow onto the ground. “Through the fence.”
“What are wild dragons doing in Valreus?” Kalai grabbed the hind leg, ducked under a bent metal rod and followed Tauran through the fence. “Why are they attacking?”
“I don’t know.” Tauran dragged the cow clear of the rubble. “When Falka came to find me, he told me about it. I’ve never heard of anything like it before. No one has.”
Kalai frowned, looking to the sky like Tauran had.
“All right.” Tauran wiped his hands on his trousers and stepped back. “Call Arrow down, then let’s head up. He should eat off the ground, just in case.”
Kalai nodded, stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled. “I don’t understand what would motivate them to attack. They’ve never done anything like that in Kel Visal.”
Tauran shook his head. “I spoke to Catria and Roric about it, the other riders in the guard. The wild dragons have been acting weird for a while. Getting more aggressive, abandoning healthy eggs. Have the dragon masters said anything?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Kalai said, almost too quiet to be heard over the sound of distant roars. “They don’t tell us much.” His jaw tensed. “But I did see dragons in the air above Kel Visal more than usual before I left.”