“Are you sure this is it?” Tanax said.

Maya shaded her eyes and looked at the little stream, which descended from a cluster of rocks to join with a slightly larger creek and continue winding out of the mountains. The valley stretching up behind it, narrow and stony, looked like a hundred others they’d passed.

“No,” Maya said honestly. “But if Marn’s directions are right, this is the most likely spot.” She sighed. “I wish we had some sign Jaedia came this way. We should have nearly caught up to her by now.”

Beq twisted the dials on her spectacles, looking at the mountain that overshadowed the valley like a blue-white bank of grounded cloud. “It doesn’t look like it goes too far, anyway,” she said. “If we don’t find anything, we can backtrack without losing more than a day.” She glanced wistfully at their mounts, which were tethered to a scraggly tree a little ways off, pecking at the sparse grass. “We’ll have to leave the birds, though. They’d never get through those rocks.”

“We’ll leave the tents and heavy gear with them,” Maya decided. “If we’re in the wrong place, we can be back here by nightfall.”

“Assuming our luck with plaguespawn continues,” Tanax said.

Swiftbirds were big and mean enough to handle a small plaguespawn, but a large one might scatter them, and there was no telling if they’d find their way back. Maya frowned, but there was nothing for it. “We’ll have to take the risk. Worse comes to worst, we won’t starve before we can walk back to Grace.”

Tanax pondered a moment, then nodded agreement. They divested themselves of their heavy packs, leaving them in a pile beside the birds under a staked-down blanket. Maya broke open a bag of feed and scattered it on the ground in front of Blackbar and the other two, and soon they were pecking contentedly. She checked her gear—panoply belt, haken, a small pack with a few emergency supplies—and took a long breath of cool mountain air.

Here we are. Hopefully. Jaedia could be just ahead, along with Nicomidi and Chosen knew what else. Maya stared up the rock slope, mind racing, then gave a start as Beq slipped a hand into hers.

“We’ll find her,” Beq said quietly.

“Yeah.” Maya squeezed her fingers. “Thanks.”

After a short scramble, the valley leveled out into a steady uphill trudge broken by a few stretches of tumbled rocks. The sun climbed as they walked, but the air stayed cool. Everything was still and silent—so silent, in fact, that Maya started to worry. They’d surprised the occasional mountain goat or rabbit pretty regularly throughout their journey, but here—

“Plaguespawn!” Tanax hissed, hand dropping to his haken.

“Where?” Maya said.

“There!” Beq pointed, twisting the dials of her lenses.