Maev nodded and wiped tears from her eyes. "I’d like that. Now let's keep walking. The smoke and fire are a beacon, and we have to find the others." She squeezed Laira's hand. "Let's walk and if more sphinxes arrive, we'll hide. We'll—"

A voice rose behind them. "You will come with us, dragons."

Laira and Maev spun around, gasping.

A dozen men emerged from between the trees, clad in green cloaks and hoods. Each man held a bow, arrows pointing forward. Instead of a flint or bronze head, each arrow was tipped with a bundle of rolled up leaves and vines.

With only a glance at each other, Laira and Maev shifted back into dragons.

The arrows flew and slammed into them.

The two dragons screamed.

Upon impact, the leafy bundles unfurled. Green strands spread across Laira like vines clutching a boulder. They squeezed. They spread stinging pain through her. She yowled as invisible hands seemed to grab her magic, to yank it out, to shatter the starlight inside her. Her scales vanished. Her wings and claws retracted. She fell onto the forest floor in human form, the green strands still racing across her, rustling with leaves, stabbing her with thorns. Maev thrashed on the ground beside her, clutched in similar green bonds, her magic also gone.

"Lift them up," said one of the archers, a tall man with an auburn beard. "Toss them across the horses." He smiled thinly. "Two more cursed ones for the Green Lord."

Laira tried to shift again, to rise, to fly, to burn them. The robed men grabbed her, tugged her to her feet, and shoved a sack over her head. Darkness spread across her and she screamed.

JEID

 
JEID

The young man's voice echoed through the tunnels, hoarse and far too loud, singing a bawdy song.

"The girl went to the sea

And got stung there by a bee

And the bee got her right on the bottom!

And she took off her clothes

From her chin down to her toes

And—"

Jeid stomped forward. "Dorvin!"

He rounded the corner and saw the black-haired hunter there. Dorvin sat slumped against the wall, legs splayed out. He held a tin bottle and Jeid smelled spirits.

"'ello, old grizzly bear!" Dorvin said, waving weakly. He raised his drink. "Want a sip?"

"I want you to shut your mouth." Jeid glared down at the young man. "There are people sleeping in these tunnels, people praying, people—"

"—who could use a good song!" Dorvin said. He struggled to his feet, a little wobbly, and held the cave wall for support. With a deep breath, he began to sing again. "And she jumped into the water, where a giant squid caught her, and a fish began to nibble her—"

"Enough!" Jeid grabbed the younger man's collar, then winced. "You stink. What's that you're drinking?"