She could handle this. She just had to think like a warrior. Use her surroundings. Be unexpected.
First, she needed to know how deep the crowds were and which direction she should flee. As the horde clambered over the injured and came for her, she locked her gaze on a thick red leaf maple that leaned toward the cottage’s roof.
At least ten people stood in the way, and there were no branches low enough to grab with her hands, but it would have to do.
Sasha, path. She sent an image of the tree, and her bird whirled away from the cluster of men she’d been keeping at bay and barreled toward the tree, skimming the ground and crashing into those who stood between Lorelai and the maple.
The princess raced toward the tree, hurtling over prone bodies and grabbing a man’s outstretched arms so she could push against him for leverage as she launched herself at the maple’s trunk. She struck the tree with her right foot and pushed up and out. Three more leaps and she’d reached the lowest branches.
Sasha circled overhead, eyeing the crowd that was now crushing themselves against the tree as they fought to climb over one another and follow Lorelai into the branches.
Lorelai climbed until she was nearly eye level with the cottage’s roof, the closest she could get before the branches became too slim to safely hold her weight, and then sidled out along a branch that was barely wide enough to allow her to keep her balance. Taking a deep breath, she judged the angle and then leaped for the roof.
She landed at the feet of a bespelled soldier.
He swung his sword, and she rolled to her left and straight into another soldier. More boots stood beside his, and when she craned her neck to take in the entire roof, her stomach dropped.
People were pouring onto the rooftop, using a twisted hemlock tree that grew close to the back porch. It was like Irina had seen what Lorelai was doing and had sent her bespelled army up the hemlock tree in a countermove that left Lorelai with very few options. She looked behind her to find an escape route.
Several peasants had clambered over the throng around the maple tree and were clinging to its trunk.
The yard below was so crowded, Lorelai couldn’t see a single blade of grass.
Even her survival skills couldn’t get her out of this. She was going to have to use magic and pray that she didn’t kill any innocent people, and that she didn’t have to overpower any hearts. She needed enough strength to face Irina before Gabril and his family died, and Kol was lost to her forever.
The man standing above her snatched her arms as she tried to spin away from him, and a woman who looked far too delicate to be so strong grabbed Lorelai’s feet. Together, they moved toward the edge of the roof while Lorelai fought and bucked against their hands. She couldn’t reach them with her palms. She couldn’t reach the roof either. Her magic burned, begging for release that was impossible to give.
Help! she sent to Sasha but before the gyrfalcon could dodge the host of sword-wielding soldiers that crowded the rooftop and get to Lorelai, a tremendous roar of fury shattered the air.
Lorelai twisted to look past her captors and saw an enormous dragon, black as ebony, sweep the roof, knocking soldiers flying with the force of its wings.
“Trugg!” Her breath was a sob of relief.
Her captors skidded toward the edge of the roof, and then Lorelai was airborne. She flew toward the ground, back first. Twisting, she tried to correct her trajectory, but then something hard and sharp snatched her arms and lifted her toward the sky. She looked up into the face of a very angry-looking silver dragon with black wings and a line of glistening black scales running down its spine and tail.
Jyn.
Sasha shrieked in fury and dove for the dragon.
No! She doesn’t mean me any harm. Follow, Sasha. Follow only. The bird pulled out of the dive and circled instead, but her thoughts were full of shredding dragon underbellies and poking out their eyes.
Jyn rose into the air, Lorelai clutched in her talons, and six other dragons were waiting for her—Trugg and five others in various combinations of purple, gold, green, and white.
A white and gold dragon gave Lorelai a look she couldn’t decipher and then turned to lead them away from the pretty gabled cottages on the east side of Ravenspire. Once they’d cleared the cottages and left the bespelled crowd far behind, the dragons descended into a broken-down barn that was surrounded by trees and overgrown grass.
Jyn dumped Lorelai unceremoniously on the rough barn floor and shuddered. In seconds, the dragon’s wings and ridges receded, and her scales softened into skin. Lorelai found herself toe-to-toe with the girl, whose dark eyes were brimming with anger.
“Where is Kol?” the girl asked. “What have you done to him?”
“Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt, Jyn, before we jump to conclusions.” The boy who’d been the white and gold dragon finished shifting and grabbed some pants from the pack he’d carried.