“We aren’t used to Spell Hawk travel.” She informed him quietly and to her embarrassment there was a quaver in her voice.
Shade nodded in understanding and smiled brightly at both of them. “Lucky you. I’m the best pilot there is. At least you didn’t have to deal with a rookie. That would have been terrifying with the weather we had to face.” There was a scampering noise from behind him as the goblin crawled from under his pilot seat and hurried after him. The creature paused long enough to sniff both of his hands making certain that Shade didn’t have food before rushing to the door and disappearing through it. “Walking stomach.” Shade muttered with a faint smile.
A low growl rose from Dray’s throat with Shade’s casual dismissal of the flight. The goblin may have succeeded in distracting Shade, but it hadn’t worked on Dray at all. The Blight stood from his seat finally and continued to glower at Shade. “I would have liked to have had time to speak with Grim on the flight. Instead I found myself grasping the seat like a child and trying to keep my panic from overwhelming me. Was all of that truly necessary?”
“Got here quick didn’t we? Time is precious today, I don’t have much of it to spare.” Shade returned with a shrug and followed Grim down the steps from the ship. “I think we should speak with Neph and see what information he has on the Rivasans. I’d like the information we have to be as current as possible before we face them.” Shade said as he stepped away from the ship. His voice grew fainter as he walked and Zoey pulled her attention slowly back to Dray.
“Are you really going to go with them?” She asked quietly. Even with anger clouding his features Dray seemed far too young for the mission Grim was going on. His tan skin still held the shine of youth and his hazel eyes were clear and innocent.
His anger faded at once with her words and he gazed around the ship once before looking back at her. A rueful smile curled his lips and he nodded slowly. “Maybe that’s why Shade flew the way he did. He was trying to guarantee I didn’t get back on his Hawk.” He mused in a soft voice.
Zoelyn smiled faintly but shook her head slowly. “I don’t think he even realized he was scaring us. I was watching him as he flew for lack of anything better to focus on. I guessed that as long as he didn’t look alarmed I had no reason to be alarmed, and for most of the flight he had an expression of pure joy on his face.”
“Then it’s true. He is insane.” Dray grumbled and rubbed the back of his neck. He glanced toward the open door and then back to her with a questioning look. “Why are you hesitating? You are home.”
A faint chuckle escaped her lips and she took a hesitant step toward the door. “It seems stupid to be afraid now doesn’t it?” She observed softly. Turning back she shrugged at Dray and leaned against her seat. “I’m home, but I can’t admit to anyone I’m home. They would kill me if they knew what I truly was. Then of course there are the memories. Remembering them and seeing them in my mind isn’t the same as actually seeing the place it occurred. I have good memories of my brother, but very little about the city itself is pleasant.”
“Why not stay with Jala then? You know she would have found a place for us.” Dray sighed. The expression on his face was almost one of understanding, but she knew he couldn’t quite grasp what she was saying. It was simple to him, if you didn’t like a place, you didn’t go there.
“It’s not a matter of where I want to be, Dray. It is where I need to be.” Zoelyn frowned as she spoke the words. There didn’t seem any other way to convey the feeling that had been in her gut for weeks. She needed to be at Delvay and it was more than just a longing for her brother.
“Zoey c’mon please.” Shade called from beyond the ship. She could hear both impatience and understanding in his voice, and knew beyond a shadow of doubt that Shade knew what she was feeling better than anyone else did. Neither Grim nor Dray could understand what it meant to go home and know you wouldn’t be welcome. Grim was avoiding home to save Micah’s secrets, but if he were to walk into Lord Elijah’s throne room he would be welcomed as a returning hero, and from what Shade had said of ,Onvalla Dray would be just as welcome were he to return to the Blights.
With a long slow breath Zoelyn stepped from the shadowed interior of the ship to the bright sunlit afternoon and gazed at the high stone walls of the city. “Valemuir” She breathed the city’s name as her eyes roved over every detail of her home taking silent stock of everything that had changed in her absence. Each repaired stone told her the story of the Rivasan attack and she shuddered. She heard Dray step down behind her, but didn’t glance back at him. Her eyes were locked on the city searching for signs of movement, but there wasn’t any. There should have been soldiers in the yard and snow cats on the ledges, but she couldn’t even find the shadowed forms of guards watching the gates. The entire place seemed deserted.
“Neph doesn’t have enough people left to maintain the outer city.” Shade explained as he watched her. “It’s not all abandoned, just this part. They stay in the inner city now and focus their numbers on guarding it.” He promised as he started toward the massive gates. His goblin scampered out of the nearby brush and hurried after him muttering growls and clicks as it held various objects up to him in an attempt to get his attention. To its obvious dismay Shade was ignoring it, and just as a human child would the goblin redoubled its efforts nearly tripping Shade in its attempt to get him to accept a dirt covered rock.