Maiven put her hand on Thisbe’s shoulder and looked into her eyes. “Thisbe,” she said quietly. “Our people do not shy away from a fight for justice. That’s our nature. And it’s partly why so few of us remain—many of the parents of these future leaders died fighting for their rightful land and rulership. To live our lives where we look the other way when something isn’t right? That is no life at all.”

Thisbe was quiet. She looked around at the other solemn faces and was surprised to see that they all seemed willing and eager to go along with this sudden change of plans. Prindi nodded and stepped forward. “We will help you, Thisbe.”

Rohan echoed her. Then the others did the same.

“You are all very noble,” Thisbe said, her eyes shining. “I gratefully accept your help. But . . . can we escape here without the Revinir finding out? I can’t have her chasing me down again and bringing even more chaos to my land.”

“We’re way ahead of you,” said Gorgrun knowingly. “We haven’t used up all of our tricks yet. Our ghostlike qualities allow us to make ourselves appear as fog to all but the black-eyed rulers if we choose to do so. We activated it at the time we left the cavelands. Although all of you can see us as we truly look, no one else has detected us—not even your neighbors. We will float past the castle and across the gorge in the same manner until we are quite out of sight of anyone in this world.”

“That couldn’t be more perfect,” said Thisbe, greatly relieved to hear it.

Maiven smiled. “Then it’s settled—you shall be our Trojan horse.” She turned to the future leaders. “Let’s pack up and go before Gorgrun forgets to look like a cloud of fog.”

•  •  •

Thirty minutes later everyone was armed with all the weapons and ancient books they could carry. They slipped out into the alley and climbed Gorgrun’s ethereal, skeletal tail and nestled on his soft, cloudy back. With his riders hidden in the foggy folds of his sagging skin, he moved through the neighborhood like a ghost. At the road he took flight, slowly and deftly dodging the cursed, glazed-eyed dragons who were out searching for these very same black-eyed people.

As they passed the castle in the distance, Thisbe sat up and looked at it, feeling a pang in her heart. She hadn’t forgotten Dev. Was he there? Or in the dungeon? Or perhaps the catacombs? There was nothing they could do for him right now. He’d have to figure out how to stay alive on his own until they were ready to go after the Revinir and rescue him. “Please be okay, wherever you are,” Thisbe whispered, sending the words away on the wind. “We’ll be back.”

•  •  •