The Dragon Beshrewed - Illustrated (Tatterwing Book 1) by M.M. Stauffer

Author:M.M. Stauffer [Stauffer, M.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: M.M. Publishing
Published: 2014-04-09T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17: Coughing Dust

The next time she opened her eyes, everything was dark as pitch.

Cold had permeated the chilly walls and sunk into her very bones. There were hushed voices coming from across the room, and she saw the dim flare of a match as someone tried to start a lantern.

“Medo,” someone hissed by her ear. She jumped, banging her head on the stairs.

“What?” She hardly felt groggy now. The urgency in Owyn’s voice told her something was wrong. “What’s going on?”

“Tipp woke up a minute ago and the door was wide open. Did a count and found someone’s missing.”

“Who?”

“Coil. He’s gone. No one knows where.”

Medo felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“It gets worse. One of the others saw Coil at the window a few hours ago watching the sky. There’s been flashes.”

Medo looped her satchel across her back, grabbed her shawl, and pulled on her boots. Hewbert scrambled up her back, taking his place on her shoulder. “You’re not saying they called her. Not into the city?”

“I don’t know. Some of them are afraid she’s already come here, that she’s dragged Coil out of his bed—“

“I doubt that,” Medo said, getting to her feet. She had a bad feeling about his absence, but it didn’t have anything to do with a concern for his safety. “You ready to get out of here?”

Owyn hefted his shield in reply. Looking across the room, Medo could see Thatcher’s face and slender wrist illuminated by the lantern’s glow. Her boys were grouped around her, whispering.

“Did Coil say anything to you?” Thatcher asked as they approached. “Did you see him do anything odd?”

Before Medo could answer, a soft rapping silenced the room. It was muted through the thick, wooden door, but audible, nonetheless. Someone was outside.

“Maybe he’s back,” said the reedy one, starting for the door.

“Don’t,” Owyn warned in a whisper. He dug through his pocket, pulling out something slender and stick-like. At first Medo thought it must be a twig that Hewbert had intended for his nest, but then she noticed the white coating that covered one end. “Marlin gave it to me. Said we should check before we open it to anyone.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Thatcher told him, starting forward, but Owyn had already reached the door and scraped one of the matches along the rough wood. Fire blazed instantly at its end, illuminating the door, but not the way it should have. The wood and plaster of the wall suddenly became transparent like a thin veil, or a shred of haze.

What she saw on the other side made her heart skip a beat. Adede Glade stood before her, eyes bearing dark circles, a fierce determination burned across her papery face. Medo jumped back reflexively, but from the woman’s blank stare, it was clear Marlin’s matches only worked one way.

Behind her, Medo caught sight of Bogo Hollow, along with two other men she didn’t recognize. One of them had Coil by the arm. The boy’s lip was bleeding, and he looked paler than usual, but he wore a sort of bitter satisfaction on his face.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.