The Hidden Crystal

Chapter 46

Rath wove in and out of the back alleys with practiced ease, his black hair and black clothes hiding him in the shadows, his steps silent. Char followed with the same level of skill.

A skill Iris lacked.

She was too loud. She didn't blend in as well. Her dark blue dress wasn't dark enough.

They said nothing to her about it, but she worried she'd give them away at any moment.

Their twisted path led them ever deeper into the city, ever closer to the castle wall, and another persistent worry nagged at her mind. Her heart was pounding, her senses on high alert, waiting for Micah's searching magic. He knew she was here. He'd let her escape before, but she couldn't outrun magic. It was only a matter of time before he found her.

"Iris?"

She jumped and spun to face the person who'd called her name, wondering if her ears were playing tricks on her now.

And then wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her, too.

"It really is you!"

Wide green eyes. Red curls bouncing as she ran. A tight embrace to prove she was real.

"Ginger!" Iris gasped, and then her eyes landed on another pair of green eyes, another mess of curly red hair framing another freckled face. "And... Fred?"

"We thought you were dead," Ginger said, squeezing Iris tighter. Her tears soaked Iris' dress, and Iris' fell on her hair.

Fred, even taller and ganglier than Iris remembered, stooped to pick up a fallen bucket at his feet. Water dripped from the cuffs of his too-short pants and trickled across the cobblestones.

"How...how are you...?"

"We thought you were dead!" Ginger repeated, choking the words out. "You and..."

"Father John isn't with you?" Fred asked, frowning as he looked over Iris' shoulder at Char and Rath.

"No, he..." Iris' heart sank. "Then he isn't with you."

"He didn't come with us." Ginger pulled back and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "H-he..."

"He gave us a note and all the money he had, and he sent us here," Fred explained. "He said he was staying back to wait for you."

Iris stared at Fred, her mind reeling. "'Sent you'...?"

"Teleported us. Turns out he was a mage. Who are they?"

Father John was a mage?

Rath stepped forward when a stunned Iris didn't introduce him and flashed the teenagers a smile. "Roger. And this is my brother, Charlie. Hey, Chuck, I'm gonna go on ahead and check on a few things while they catch up. I'll be back soon."

That got Iris' attention. She spun to face the dragons. "Wait, we don't have time—"

"We can spare a few minutes," Char reassured her, grinning.

"You have to see Kayla!" Ginger grabbed Iris' hand. "She's inside, and she'll—oh. Fred, can you...?"

Fred nodded, already hooking the bucket to a pulley system over a well, though he was still surveying Char and Rath with suspicion. "Yeah, I'll be right behind you."

"I'll wait out here," Char told Iris.

Iris let Ginger lead her to a worn wooden door set within worn gray stones, but she cast one last worried glance at Char before she went inside. As much as she wanted to see Kayla, this was an interruption they couldn't afford.