Kingdom of Ash

two keys here. So he had buried them in the
shale rock, not even daring to mark the spot.
He could only pray it was far enough away to
avoid Erawan’s detection.
At the side of a tower, two servants bearing
armloads of laundry emerged from a small
door and began winding up the exterior stair,
heads bowed as if trying to ignore the army
that rippled far below. Or the wyverns whose
bellows echoed off the black rock.
There. That door.
Dorian flapped toward it, willing his heart
to calm, his scent—the one thing that might
doom him—to remain unmarked. But none of
the Ironteeth flying overhead noticed the
crow-that-did-not-smell-like-a-crow. And the
two laundresses winding up the tower stairs
didn’t call out as he landed on the small stone
railing and folded his wings neatly.
A hop, and he was on the stones.