The Curse of the Blessed

Chapter Thirty-Four

That night, at dinnertime, Lark and Bran and I wove between the tables and chairs full of people, searching for one or both of the captains. Bran led the way.

When we found one of the captains—Captain Rayan, sitting in a comfy armchair between Nevaeh and a middle-aged man, laughing at a joke as it was told by the latter—Bran tapped her on the shoulder and stepped back to wait for her to turn her attention to us.

Finally, face still red and eyes still sparkling with laughter, she turned around. "Do the three of you need something?"

"We have a plan," said Bran.

She frowned. "A plan for..."

I stepped forward. "A plan to attack—and possibly defeat—the Magician."

Captain Rayan glanced back at Nevaeh, and they exchanged a short look. Then she stood and began to walk, motioning with her hand for us to follow her, which we did—out of the dining hall and into the room where she'd brought me to tell me about Bran's troubles only a few days ago. This time, there were four chairs rather than two.

"Sit," she said, lowering herself into a chair and crossing her legs.

We did.

"I assume you'll need me to bring you back within a day's walk of the Magician's cave?"

"If you're willing," said Bran, "yes."

Captain Rayan nodded. "I thought so. Do you know when? Are you planning to wait a week or a month to recover before you go back?"

"We should get going as soon as we can." Lark frowned at me, so I continued. "Before we attacked the Magician the first time, we were all restless. It's best to get things like this over as swiftly as possible."

Bran smiled, relief plain on his face. "I agree. Lark?"

"I'm up for anything," Lark wrote.

"Would you be willing to wait?" Captain Rayan asked.

"I mean, it wouldn't kill us," said Bran. "Why?"

Captain Rayan sighed and looked down at her hands. "One of our Blessed scouts has found a Blessed in need of rescuing. Their town discovered their powers, and... did not react well. If we don't rescue them soon, they could be seriously hurt—maybe even killed. We're on our way to them now." She turned her gaze up to us, smiling sadly. "We can let you off here, but you're a good week's journey away from the Magician's cave."

"You want us to stay with you?" I asked.

"If you're willing. We've rescued Blesseds from this town before, and last time..." She grimaced. "Let's just say it went rather badly. We didn't lose anyone, but we came close."

"How?" Bran breathed. "How could they fight, if they have no magic?"

"They have weapons. Good ones. Crossbows, and catapults, and all the types of things that are good for knocking a cloud ship out of the air."

"You want our help," I said, suddenly understanding.

Captain Rayan looked at me and smiled, the expression genuine and determined. "Yes."

"What do you want us to do?"

Bran shot me a confused glance. "We're really doing this?"

"Maybe, maybe not." I leaned back in my chair, pulling my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them, and settling my chin comfortably between my kneecaps. "I just want to hear her out."

"Do the three of you need to discuss this before I continue?" Captain Rayan asked.

Bran shook his head. "No need. I'm sorry to interrupt."