Umbertouched by Livia Blackburne

Author:Livia Blackburne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2018-11-05T16:00:00+00:00

Our journey north goes quickly, thanks in part to provisions from Mehtap. It takes us a week to get to the strait, and once there, Sarsine proves every bit as skilled a boat thief as Dineas. We set out for Monyar in the late afternoon, timing it so that the light will be fading just as we reach land. We’ve had no news at all from our people, and I’m both eager and scared to learn what has happened since we left. Does the village still stand? Has Alia stayed out of the fighting? Is Dineas still alive?

As we draw close to the Monyar shore, something doesn’t feel right. I squint through the darkness. There’s a boat on the water off the beach—smaller than a warship but bigger than a rowboat, with an enclosed cabin on the deck.

“Do you recognize that ship?”

Sarsine shakes her head. “It’s not a Shidadi ship.”

And it looks like no Dara vessel I’ve ever seen.

“Are those campfires on the beach?” asks Sarsine, her voice sharp.

She’s right. Two or three campfires wink on the sand. I don’t know why I didn’t see them before.

Sarsine scans cliffs on either side of the shore. “It’s the right place...” she says uncertainly.

But now, as we row closer, we can see soldiers on the rocks—far too many, and moving far too rigidly, to be Shidadi.

Sarsine lets out a string of curses. “Row! We’re turning around.”

We paddle frantically, drenching ourselves with our frenzied efforts. Sluggishly, the nose of our boat turns and we pull painfully slowly back out to sea. When the Amparan soldiers once again become specks on the sand, we start to row parallel to the shore from a distance. The light is fading, though, and it’s getting hard to see. Despite our recent exertion, I start to shiver.

“There!” says Sarsine. She points to a small stretch of empty beach. Both of us are shaky from cold as we bring the boat in and hide it among the rocks. Every time a seagull screeches, I jump. Every time the wind blows over the sand, I think it’s an Amparan soldier.

Finally, the boat is hidden. Sarsine finds a sea cave that opens just above the high tide line, and we rush inside to flee the wind.

“We were so sure the Amparans wouldn’t go there,” Sarsine mutters. She sits on a rock shelf above the mouth of the cave, frowning at the waves below.

I think of that beach covered with soldiers. What does it mean for the war if the Amparans have come this far? What does this mean for the village? “We can’t wait at that beach for Slicewing to find us,” I say. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Maybe we can go directly to Dara,” Sarsine says uncertainly. “Maybe the village still stands.”

She doesn’t really believe it, though, and neither do I. Scrawny’s huddled in the corner of the cave, smoothing out his wet feathers, and I call him over. “Find Dineas,” I tell him.

He’s grumpy, but takes off after a few indignant caws.

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