Tamri urged Rook to glide lower over Caraway Island, scanning the rocks for feathers, blood spatters, or any other sign of unusual activity. At first, she couldn’t tell what Heath was pointing at. Then a bare patch of earth caught her eye. The new vegetation had been scraped back to make room for a campfire. Tamri used her dragonfly Firestick to let Heath know she’d seen it. Scouting ahead.
Rook descended quickly and landed far enough from the campsite not to disturb it. He shook out his wings, scattering sand across the rocks and nearly knocking Tamri over as she scrambled off his back. Boru alighted beside them with far more grace and swept his elegant white wings aside to allow Heath to climb down.
“You could blink and miss this,” Tamri said as she and Heath approached the edge of the camp. “Nice catch.”
“Wielders aren’t the only ones with useful skills,” Heath said. “See how the ground is trampled? I’d say three or four people slept here.”
A cursory effort had been made to conceal the camp. When the fire was doused, someone had kicked the ashes around to make them less obvious. But the ripped-up plants and boot prints told the story clearly enough.
“They probably left early this morning, or these would have blown away,” Heath said after studying the scattered ashes.
“Khrillin’s spies?” Tamri asked.
“Maybe.” Heath frowned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Or some local fishermen who stopped for the night.”
“This close to Starry Cove?” Tamri shaded her eyes against the sun and scanned the waters beyond the island. Only a few of the East Isles had settlements, forlorn little outposts with only a handful of residents each. “They could have stayed in an inn if they sailed a little farther—unless they didn’t want to be seen.”
She crossed the camp and found that the ground sloped downward to a small inlet. Gentle waves lapped against the rocks at the bottom, their fitful patter echoing up the narrow cove. The ground was disturbed at the water’s edge, as if someone had put their weight on the wrong stone and caused a mudslide.
“There’s room to hide a boat down there,” she called to Heath. “But only a small one.”
He came over to examine the inlet with her. “Sailing from Pendark would be tough in a small boat, even with Watermight to propel them. If they’re Khrillin’s people, they probably started from the mainland. We should inquire in the coastal villages in case anyone saw anything suspicious.”
“I’m more worried about where they’re going than where they came from,” Tamri said. “Let’s fly east and catch them before they get to Thunderbird Island.”
“If that’s where they’re headed,” Heath said. “We shouldn’t assume anything.”
“Where else would they go?”
Heath contemplated the narrow inlet. “This would be a convenient hiding place for someone to spy on the southern coast of the Soolen mainland.” He frowned. “Or on Starry Cove itself.”
“Starry Cove.” A jolt went through Tamri at the thought. Gramma Teall had still been fast asleep when she left early that morning. But the manor was safe, wasn’t it? “We should get back.”
Heath didn’t respond right away, furrowing his brow in thought. “Khrillin is bold but not stupid. He’ll want to learn everything we know about the Lightning and all about our defenses.” He turned back to the abandoned campsite. “Can you sense any Watermight here?”
“No. I wouldn’t be able to tell if someone used it here unless they left some behind.” Tamri tugged on his arm impatiently. “Let’s go. We need to tell our friends someone’s lurking nearby, whether they’re Waterworkers or not.”
As they crossed the campsite to rejoin the dragons, Tamri reached out with her senses just in case any trace amounts of Watermight had dripped into the dirt. Khrillin’s people would have had to steal or purchase it in Soole, which could provide another clue to their movements. But she couldn’t feel so much as a teardrop of power, except what she carried in her body.
Tamri paused beside Rook, letting a coil of Watermight snake between her fingers. She’d promised Dara she would keep Watermight in her body in case the Lightning dragon tried to talk to her, but it would be easier to sense tiny quantities of the magical substances if she didn’t have any in her blood.
Heath was busy offering Boru treats from his pockets, not paying attention to Tamri. Before she could think better of it, she let the rest of her Watermight stash ooze out of her hands and offered it to Rook. The dragon swallowed the silvery liquid without question, storing it deep in his belly. He looked a little disappointed it wasn’t a honey cake.
When her body was free of Watermight, Tamri opened her senses further, searching for any hint of magical substances in the vicinity. She couldn’t help watching for the electric sensation of the Lightning, too, just in case. But the Lightning dragon’s presence was nowhere to be found. She must be far away, as the clear skies implied.
Tamri couldn’t sense any Watermight at the campsite, either, no matter how much she strained. She was about to give up and climb onto Rook when something caught her attention—not Lightning but a far more familiar substance. She froze, one hand on the dragon’s harness.
“What is it?” Heath asked. He’d mounted Boru, his Fire cudgel tucked back into his belt.
“Someone’s using Watermight,” Tamri said. “It’s very far away and . . .” She tried to focus on that distant whisper. If she could feel Watermight being used from so far away, there must be an awful lot of it. The sensation was coming from Starry Cove.
“We need to go.” Tamri hoisted herself onto Rook’s back and kicked in her heels, prompting him to take flight before she even had a solid grip on his harness. Rook squawked irritably as he rose into the air. Boru followed, his brilliant white wings gliding effortlessly on the wind.
Tamri squinted toward the west, where she’d sensed that distant surge of Watermight. The weather remained calm and cloudless, and the sky was a relentless shade of blue. But in the distance, above the sprawl of Starry Cove, a plume of black smoke was rising.
Dread hit Tamri like a punch in the gut. “Fly, Rook!” she shouted, leaning forward over his long scarlet neck. “Fly as fast as you can.”
Rook obeyed without hesitation. He sped toward Starry Cove, his wings pumping so vigorously that Tamri nearly lost her seat. She took her Watermight supply back, trying to draw the magic from his belly without slowing him down. They could be in for a fight.
Just let Gramma Teall be okay. The thought thrummed and skittered in her mind like an angry zur-wasp. Watermight swirled through her veins and iced along her bones, but it couldn’t chase away her fear. I don’t care if the whole town goes up in flames as long as she’s okay.
The black plume of smoke grew thicker and larger. A fire was spreading in Starry Cove, sending its dark beacon into the sky. People darted along the waterfront, as frantic as beetles with a flooded nest. But the smoke wasn’t coming from the pretty white houses in the village down by the cove. It was coming from the manor on the cliff.
No. Tamri’s heart clenched like a fist. Please, no.
Rook flew faster still, streaking through the sky in a scarlet blur, sensing her urgency. Even Boru couldn’t keep up now. Tamri prepared a Watermight whip, the one weapon she could use without thought. It wouldn’t do much good against a fire, but Tamri wasn’t thinking clearly. She needed to get to her grandmother.