Kingdom of Ash

He rubbed at his face, sitting up on his
bedroll. The horses dozed, no sign of distress.
Gavriel kept watch in mountain-lion form just
beyond the light of the fire, his eyes gleaming
in the dark. Elide and Lorcan didn’t stir from
their heavy slumber.
Rowan scanned the position of the stars.
Only a few hours until dawn.
And then to Akkadia—to that land of scrub
and sand.
While Elide and Lorcan had debated where
to go, he’d weighed it himself. Whether to fly
to Doranelle alone and risk losing precious
days in what might be a fool’s search.
Had Vaughan been with them, had
Vaughan been freed, he might have dispatched
the warrior in his osprey form to Doranelle
while they continued on to Akkadia.
Rowan again considered it. If he pushed his
magic, harnessed the winds to him, the two