On top of the small gendarme that was barely large enough for the two of them, he stood, looking out on the world so far below. By the time she joined him there, he was as exuberant as anyone she’d ever seen.

“I am emperor of the climb!” he shouted, his voice echoing off the canyon walls. “Fear me, bitches!”

Sumi laughed. “Remember, we still have to get back down.”

“Oh.” He peered over the edge. When he looked back at her, he stroked his chin and spoke in a faux professor-like tone. “Perhaps I spoke prematurely.”

Still laughing, she hugged him against her. “So where’s this nest?”

He pointed to a small crevice that was thankfully empty, except for the remnants of a nest that contained a handful of white feathers and two small bones.

His expression ebullient, Darice picked them up and tucked them into his pouch. “We did it!”

“Yep. Ready to head down?”

He looked over the edge again and cringed. “I think I liked climbing up better.”

Smiling, she tugged playfully at his ponytail that peeked out from under his helmet. “You’ll be fine. Look how far you’ve come.”

“We did, didn’t we?” He reached into his pouch and pulled a feather out. Then he held it toward her. “This is for you. You’re an Andarion now.”

She touched her hand over her heart and lowered her head to him. “I’m very honored. Thank you, mi tana.” She tucked the feather into her own pouch.

He smiled, until he looked down again. Suddenly, he turned a little green around his gills. “All right. Let’s slowly get this over with.”

Sumi had a bad feeling before they even reached the bottom. Something wasn’t right. She could feel it in her gut. As soon as they were on the ground, she unhooked herself and removed her helmet.

Darice dropped his on the ground and unbuckled his harness. “Where is everyone?”

“Not sure.”

He went running toward base camp to show off his feathers. Sumi had just started packing up their gear when she heard him screaming her name.

Pulling out her small blaster, she ran to him. He was kneeling over Thia.

“Dancer!” she called. “Bastien!”

No one answered.

Her heart pounding, she ran to Thia, who slowly blinked her eyes open.

“Stop yelling, Darice,” Thia snapped as she sat up. “My head’s killing me.”

“What happened?” Sumi asked.

At first, Thia appeared confused. Then she gasped and looked around with wild panic. “We were attacked.”

“Where are the guys?”

Wide-eyed, Thia panted as she tried to calm herself. “Oh my God, they must have been taken!”

Sumi flinched at the last words she wanted to hear. She quickly searched the area and found impressions in the ground where someone had dragged their unconscious bodies away from here to some kind of wheeled transport.

It vanished into the desert.