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chimeras, a crazy sorcerer and Eva Drizell, and she'd defeated them all. She could handle
a few bureaucrats. Right?
She mounted her broomstick and took off. Soon, the city lay behind her, and she
sailed over an expanse of farmland and fields. Now she just had to find Zander and give
him the Tear. "If I were Zander, where would I go?" she murmured.
Then it came to her. He would go to Threed s lair and free the captive chimeras. She
turned her broom and flew south, toward the Kanti Desert.
When she arrived, the lair was empty. All that remained of the lab was a few empty
tanks and pieces of smashed machinery lying on the floor & but there was no trace of
Zander. She d arrived too late.
Frustrated, she took to the air again and left the desert behind. As she sailed over
green fields, she spotted a two-legged, furry form walking along the road below. She
landed by the roadside and called out,  Hello.
The traveler stopped and turned to face her. He was a tall, lean man covered from
head to toe in shaggy brown fur. Golden-green eyes peered out of a catlike face. He
carried a satchel over one shoulder and wore only a ragged pair of trousers.  Hello, he
said warily.
 Did you come from the underground lab, by any chance?
He tensed.  What s it to ya? His voice was deep and growly, but it somehow
sounded very young.
 Nothing. I just wondered if you ve seen a man with blue scales. He d probably be
wearing a cloak and hood. Name s Zander.
The cat-man s eyes widened.  He freed us. He led us out of the desert. Do you know
him?
She nodded.  Can you tell me where he went?
He scratched the tuft of fur atop his head.  Said he was headed toward the Edge
Mountains. Don t know any more than that.
 Thanks. She straddled her broom and shot skyward. It wasn t much to go on, but it
was something.
Chapter Sixteen
Thunder rumbled.
"Great," muttered Wendy as she trudged through the forest. Mud sucked at her boots.
The first few, cold raindrops hit the back of her neck and trickled down the collar of her
tunic, making her shiver. She looked up at the dark clouds massing overhead.
Her stomach gurgled. She'd run out of dried food yesterday, and she didn't know how
to set snares. Her breakfast that day had been a handful of wild berries, followed by large
helpings of nothing for lunch and dinner.
She'd been following the trail for hours. There wasn't much to go on. A snapped twig
here, a bent leaf there, the occasional, faint boot-print& and once, a shining, silvery hair
caught on a maple branch. That single hair, and a tip from a local farmer who'd seen
someone in a hood and cloak, gave her hope that the person she was tracking might be
Zander. Maybe it wasn't enough to prove it, but damned if she was going to give up now.
She cupped her hands around her mouth and called, "Zander!" The echoes of her
voice faded away into silence. She sighed and raked a hand through her damp hair. She'd
been calling his name and bumbling through the woods all day. She was probably
attracting every robber, rapist and wild animal for miles around.
She stopped to lean against a tree, then glanced at the ground and saw the shallow
impression of a boot in the mud. Her heartbeat quickened, and she broke into a run.
Ahead, she spotted a dark opening in a hillside. A faint orange glow emanated from
within. She held her breath and crept closer, peering into the darkness. Roots squiggled
through curved, earthen walls. Once, perhaps, the hollow had served as the den of some
predator, a wolf or a bear. Now, a campfire flickered inside, its light dancing on the
walls. A dark form sat with its back to her.
She cleared her throat.
The form twisted around to face her. Yellow eyes shone in the darkness.
"Zander." She smiled. "Thank God."
His eyes widened, and his shoulders went rigid beneath his cloak. "Wendy! How did
you find me?"
"What, no hello?" She ducked into the den and sat next to him.
He looked away, his jaw clenched. "No one was supposed to find me. I thought I was
well-hidden." He met her eyes, and there was something challenging, almost angry, in his
gaze. "How did you do it?"
She hesitated. After weeks of searching, this wasn't exactly the warm welcome she'd
hoped for. "Luck and persistence, I guess. I stopped in every village I came to and asked
around. Most people tend to remember when they see a yellow-eyed man with a cloak
and hood."
He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "You shouldn't be here. It's dangerous."
"Gee, I'm happy to see you too."
"I'm a fugitive. I'm probably wanted for murder by now. If you're seen with me,
you'll become a suspect."
She pulled a soggy newspaper from her pack and tossed it into his lap. He blinked.
"Read it," she said.
He picked up the paper. Jackal Confesses, said the headline. He looked at her, brow
furrowed. "What is this?"
"Just read it," she said. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]