walk in and look around and walk out again? Well, you can’t!
You wouldn’t get twenty feet, Miss Wren you or your big
friend! That whole island is a death trap! Swamp and jungle,
vog choking off everything, Killeshan spitting fire. And the
things that live there, the monsters? What sort of chance do
you think you’ll have against them? If a Wing Rider and his Roc
couldn’t land and come out again, you sure as demon’s blood
can’t either!”
“Maybe,” Wren agreed. “But I have to try.” She glanced again
at Garth, who signed briefly, not a rebuke, but a caution. Are
you certain about this? She nodded resolutely, saying to Tiger Ty
“Don’t you want to know what’s happened to them? What if
they need help?”
“What if they do?” he growled. “What are the Sky Elves
supposed to do? There’s only a handful of us. There were thou-
sands of them. If they couldn’t deal with what’s there, what
chance would we have? Or you, Miss Rescuer?”
“Will you take us?” she repeated.
“No, I will not! Forget the whole business!” He rose in a
huff.
“Very well. Then we’ll build a boat and reach Morrowindl
that way.”
“Build a boat! What do you know about building boats! Or
sailing them for that matter!” Tiger Ty was incensed. “Of all the
foolish, pigheaded . .
He stormed off toward Spirit, then stopped, kicked at the
earth, wheeled, and came back again. His seamed face was crim-
son, his hands knotted into fists.
“You mean to do this thing, don’t you?” he demanded.
“Whether I help you or not?”
“I have to,” she answered calmly.
“But you’re just . . . You’re only . . .” He sputtered, seem-
ingly unable to complete the thought.
She knew what he was trying to say and she didn’t like it.
“I’m stronger than you think,” she told him, a hard edge to her
voice now. “I’m not afraid.”
Tiger Ty stared long and hard at her, glanced briefly at
Garth, and threw up his hands. “All right, then!” He leveled a
scorching glare at her. “I’ll take you! Just to the shoreline, mind,
because unlike you I’m good and scared and I don’t fancy risking
my neck or Spirit’s just to satisfy your curiosity!”
She met his gaze coolly. “This doesn’t have anything to do
with satisfying my curiosity, Tiger Ty. You know that.”
He dropped down in front of her, his sun-browned face only
inches from her own. “Maybe. But you listen. I want your prom-
ise that after you see what you’re up against, you’ll rethink this
whole business. Because despite the fact that you’re a bit short
of common sense, I kind of like you and I’d hate to see anything
bad happen to you. This isn’t going to turn out the way you
think. You’ll see that soon enough. So you promise me. Agreed?”
Wren nodded solemnly. “Agreed.”
Tiger Ty stood up, hands on hips, defiant to the end. “Come
on, then,” he muttered. “Let’s get this over with.”
CHAPTER
5
TIGER TY WAS ANXIOUS to be off, but he was forced to
wait almost an hour while Wren and Garth went back
down into the valley to gather up the gear and weapons
they would carry with them on their journey and to
provide for their horses. The horses were tethered, and Garth
released them so that they could graze and drink as they needed.
The valley provided grass and water enough on which to sur-
vive, and the horses were trained not to wander. Wren sorted
through their provisions, choosing what they would need and
be able to carry. Most of their supplies were too cumbersome,
and she stashed them for when they returned.
If they returned, she thought darkly.
What had she done? Her mind spun with the enormity of the
commitment she was making, and she was forced to wonder, if
only in the privacy of her own thoughts, whether she would
have cause to regret her brashness.
When they regained the cliffs, Tiger Ty was waiting impa-
tiently. Bidding Spirit to stand, he helped Wren and Garth climb
atop the giant bird and fasten themselves in place with the straps