“Promise me!” Pure terror sparks in Asher’s eyes. He hasn’t confirmed it, but I know I’m headed for wherever he was taken after Alkali Lake. Raiders in black. Old Fang’s mention of a general. It’s all connected. And Asher survived—he escaped—only because of the warning he’s giving me now.

“I promise.”

He lets go of the bars and slips toward the Vulture’s Roost.

The gunner reaches the wagon. Honey-colored eyes gleam at me from behind his mask. “Did he give you something? Show me your hands.”

I shake my head adamantly, hold out my palms.

“What did he say to you?”

“That I cost him. That by running, he doesn’t get paid, and I’m lucky I’m in this cage or he’d kill me.”

The gunner glances toward the pub, then puts his thumb and forefinger in his mouth, producing a high-pitched whistle. The falcon I saw earlier dives from the sky and lands on his gloved fist. With his free hand the gunner holds up a small leather pouch, which the bird snatches in its claws. Then, with a flap of its sandy wings, the creature is airborne again, climbing above the rock of the Barrel and flying north.

The gunner mounts his horse, gives a nod to the driver of the wagon. Reins snap, and the mules plod forward. I look toward the Vulture’s Roost, but Asher is nowhere to be found.

The wagon leaves the market and continues through a final stretch of narrow canyon, the gunner following us on a saddled mare. When we break from the pass, I blink in the afternoon brilliance.

The falcon is ahead of us, now a dark smudge against the cloudless sky. Perhaps two clicks ahead is a monstrous mesa. Twice as tall as the Barrel’s, and running farther in either direction. Water rushes over its edge, clearer and heavier-flowing than any I’ve ever seen.

As we draw nearer, I can tell that the falls spill past residences that are built directly into the mesa’s rock face. The smooth stone façades practically gleam in the sunlight.

This must be Bedrock.

The place looks like heaven. A sanctuary. An answer to the dying state of the land.

Is this the Verdant?

Surrounding the settlement and stopping the flow of water from traveling into the wastes is a towering stone- and mud-packed dam. Like a corral, it runs around Bedrock in a half circle. Only a stream of water breaches the barrier, drying long before it can reach the Barrel. The rutted trail our wagon follows leads to a ramp that climbs to the top of the dam, where a guarded entrance allows access to the fortified settlement beyond.

One way in, no way out. He controls everything.

I realize suddenly why Asher looked so terrified. Even with his warning, he fears I won’t survive this.

II

Bedrock

Chapter Nine