House of Winter

Chapter 6, Part 1

A R I

Ari held Sofia around her waist in one arm while clutching onto the grip of the dragon's saddle in the other, as Warrah set off into the night sky.

"Mama!" Sofia yelled.

Ari twisted in the seat of her saddle, trying to see where the woman had gone, and she realised with a start that the crazy store owner had jumped in front of the lions.

One of the lions launched into the air, but the other was stopped as Dot grabbed onto the Garde's leg and yanked, hard. The Garde fell from the saddle.

The other Garde stopped and turned, to check on his partner.

Dot scrambled against the Garde and tried to punch him. The Garde acted without hesitation, using a slice of light magic so hard and so fast that the woman had no chance of protecting herself. She was only an ord, and without her own magical protection, she could do nothing against the light.

She screamed out as the light shattered through her shoulder and collarbone, cutting deep into her skin.

In Ari's arms, Sofia let out an anguished scream as her mother fell to the ground.

"Don't look," Ari said, and she pulled the little girl's face into her chest, trying to stop her from seeing.

But Sofia struggled away, and there was no stopping the girl from seeing the Garde kicking Dot to the ground. Ari turned away.

Dot had sacrificed her life for the safety of her daughter. Ari knew now that she could not abandon Sofia, not when she had nowhere else to go and no one to turn to. Ari would need to find Pythos Savvas and take Sofia to him. It was the only right thing to do.

Jinni and Lumi would have to wait.

Ari urged the dragon onwards. Jinni was flying low, apparently too weak to pick up much height, and they needed to get out of here and out across the ocean as soon as possible. Ari had no idea what to do, but Warrah shot off into the sky, and miraculously, Jinni followed.

Ari kept scanning the skies for someone else following them, but it seemed that the way was clear.

"Do you know when Pythos Savvas's ship left the harbour?" Ari asked the sobbing Sofia as they flew.

"Two days ago," Sofia said, sniffing.

Ari calculated it would take them all night of flying to catch up with the ship. There was no way that Jinni could fly that long. They would need to stop and rest at one of the small islands off the coast of Lombardia. Most of them held nothing but tiny fishing villages, and almost all of them were Vastien, except that Lombardia had laid claim to a lot them.

"Where's your father, Sofia?" Ari asked.

"I don't know," Sofia said.

"Do you know which island he came from?" Ari asked.

"Zantiala," Sofia said determinedly.

Ari sighed. Zantiala was the biggest island of Vastier, and most considered it the capital city, although Vastier was not ruled with a central government. It was home to the largest population of Vastiens. And it was a few days flight, or a week's sailing, away. It seemed they had no choice but to head in that direction, and hope that they ran into Savvas's ship on the way.

They flew for a few hours, and then Ari spotted lights far down below. She directed Warrah down, and they landed on the beach of a tiny island. There were only three huts on the small sandy island. Perhaps only one small family lived here. Perhaps it would be safe to ask them for help.