Mountains were everywhere, continuing northwest in a line of jagged peaks. Forests covered the map, all across Range, and everywhere beyond the human haven.
I dragged my finger eastward, until I found the twin peaks visible from Menehem’s laboratory. “The lab should be somewhere here, right?”
Sam nodded and pointed at what looked like a random spot. “There.” He moved his finger. “See, here’s the road.”
Now that he pointed it out, I did. It had almost been lost in the other lines and splotches of ink. While I bent to study the land surrounding the lab, Sam fetched more maps and laid them on the table.
North of Range, the forest grew denser and the details less frequent, as though few people had bothered to explore and chart that area. A line of writing warned of dragons in the frozen north, though I wasn’t sure how far out one had to go in order to see them. Would it take a week to get there? Probably more.
“Sam.”
He paused next to me, arm around my waist.
“Remember when you told me about how you died in your last lifetime? You went north, saw a huge white wall, and there were dragons?”
He hesitated. “Yes.”
“Where would that be on this map?”
“I . . .” His bandaged hand drifted over the map, but never paused. “I’m not sure. You don’t want to go there, do you?”
“Of course not.” The last thing I wanted to do was put Sam in the path of dragons. He’d died by dragons thirty times. By some fluke, I’d managed to save him from dragons twice this lifetime. I didn’t want to risk him a third time. “I’m just trying to get an idea of the rest of the world, since I won’t be able to come back here.”
Sam sighed a little, like relief. “I didn’t mean to be suspicious. We’ve learned a lot about sylph in the last few months—enough to know they might not be as evil as we’d thought—but dragons still terrify me.”
Thirty times. I couldn’t imagine dying thirty times because of dragons. “I wouldn’t put you in danger.”
He gave a weak, exhausted smile, and we both dropped our attention back to the table. “Stef can put maps on your SED for you. It’s not as good as seeing the whole land on paper, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Oh, good.” I found warnings of trolls in the east, centaurs in the south, and rocs in the west. And these things were only the creatures that citizens of Heart might encounter on the edges of Range. There were more creatures beyond, though this map didn’t show that far. “I think I need a bigger map.”
Sam produced a globe, the whole world on a piece of polished stone. Continents were outlined in gold and silver, dressed in green and brown and beige and white, depending on the vegetation or lack thereof. Oceans and large lakes were brilliant, beautiful blue.
I caressed the globe, stone and metal smooth beneath my palm. “I had no idea there was so much beyond Range. Where are we?”
“Here.” He pointed toward the middle of a northern continent. “Range is smaller than the space my fingertip takes up.”
“Oh.” I turned the globe. It was tilted—one of my teachers had told me the world was tilted, but on what, I wasn’t sure—and gazed at continents that suddenly seemed so far away it was pointless even thinking about them. “Range feels so big.”
“It is big.” Sam smoothed hair off my face. “The rest of the world is even bigger.”
“It makes me feel small. I don’t like it.”
“Me neither.” Sam sat on the edge of the table and watched while I looked through more maps, dismissing some and moving others into a pile. He answered whenever I had questions, but for the most part, he kept his eyes closed and seemed lost in thought.
I yawned as I finished with the maps and rolled them up again. “Let’s go to sleep, Sam.”
“Right here?” He eyed the floor. “Right here looks good.”
I helped him off the table and we headed downstairs, dousing lights as we went. As we reached the stairs, my SED buzzed with a message from Stef.
Get down here. Big news.
4
GATHERING
HEAD ACHING FROM lack of rest and too much mortal peril, I slumped down the stairs to find that Stef had arrived with several other friends.
“So much for sleep,” Sam muttered.
“Rin is here.” I nodded toward the crowd. “She can look at your hand.” Rin was a small girl, about ten or eleven years old, but she was one of the best medics in Heart. For some reason, she liked me. She’d stuck up for me several times, even before I’d known who she was.
“Wow.” Stef looked up as we descended the stairs. “You two look terrible.”
“Ana!” Sarit jumped up and threw her arms around me. “You’re okay.”
I hugged her back, relieved she was here. Everyone knew Sarit and I were best friends; Deborl would target her if we left her behind. Stef could take care of herself, but Sarit was gentle. She wouldn’t hurt anyone, even to protect herself.
“Are we safe here?” someone asked.
Stef nodded. “I’ve secured the library entrances. And when we leave, no one goes anywhere alone. Take groups of at least five.”