Winter Embers [ Book 2 ]

Chapter Seventeen

      As the group moved through the center of town, Claire was too caught up in her own thoughts to notice the atmosphere had shifted dramatically. Draz, however, noticed almost immediately that something was wrong and reached out to grab a hold of Claire's good arm to stop her from going any further.

     "What is it now?" She asked, her earlier frustration bubbling immediately to the surface. They'd wasted enough time and she was starting to feel anxious. Draz pulled her back into the shadows and pointed towards the docks where they'd been heading. Dotted throughout the airman and dock workers were familiar figures clad in emerald green cloaks.

     "Wardens?" Claire said, looking towards Draz. "What are they doing here? How did they find us again?"

     "There aren't many places we could have been heading, Drift was the logical choice," Draz replied, his eyes sweeping over the area. The wardens appeared to be questioning the locals and they were confident it wouldn't be long before they were questioning Xeiren too. Claire couldn't help but worry, after all, Draz had told her repeatedly that Xeiren was only as loyal as a person's pockets were deep. What if the wardens were offering a reward for information?

     "What are we going to do?" Rollan asked.

     Draz looked around and Claire could tell an idea was forming by the way his eyes suddenly lit up.

     "On my signal, you three, get to the ship," Draz said as he examined a stack of crates they'd been using for cover.

     "What about you?" Claire asked.

     Draz smirked. "I'm going to cause a distraction," he said before grabbing hold of the rope and swinging up onto the first crate.

     "What's the signal, Haval?" Rollan asked.

     Draz only smirked and continued to climb. When he reached the top, Claire could see fire swirling between his fingers.

     "Anyone want to see a magic trick?" He called out.

     This caught not just the attention of the crowd, but the wardens as well. Several pointed in his direction before looking for the quickest ways to reach him. With all eyes on him, the fire between his fingers began to spiral out over the heads of the onlookers. In a display that Claire had witnessed once before, sparks of colored flame and smoke began to twist into the forms of two battling dragons. They swooped down low over the heads of the delighted onlookers and elicited gasps and screams from the more faint of heart.

     As the Wardens drew closer, Claire could see that several already had their weapons drawn, no doubt anticipating a fight. Rollan must've noticed too because he suddenly appeared anxious.

     "I think this is our cue to go," Rollan said.

     Claire nodded but before they could make their escape, a voice suddenly rang out over the gathering of onlookers.

     "Halt, in the name of the king!"

     "Go, Claire!" Rollan shouted, pushing her towards the crowd before drawing his sword and leaping in the direction of the warden who had exposed them. Draz, seeing what was happening, sent the dragons spiraling towards the warden in question causing the man to dive out of the way in order to avoid getting struck by the attack.

     The crowd swelled around her as those nearest to the conflict began to panic in response to the sudden display of violence. She had no choice but to retreat further into the mass of people and hope that they could all somehow make it to the ship in one piece.

     

     Everyone seemed to be going in every direction at once making it difficult to navigate. Several times Claire found herself forced to recalibrate after being pushed in the wrong direction by the agitated crowd.