The hike had taken over an hour. They’d been given water, and Jake was allowed to share his sunblock spray—until Princess Nefertiti snatched it away, sniffing at it with suspicion.

Despite the sunblock, he still felt like a burned French fry.

At the rock, an unusual sight greeted them. Two muscular black men, both wearing bronze slave collars, flanked a winding staircase that climbed the peak. Each held a leash attached to a calf-sized dinosaur. The four-legged beasts with tall, spiny fins sprouting from their backs like Chinese fans looked like Komodo dragons.

Dimetrodons, Jake realized, the carnivorous sail-backed dinosaurs from the Permian period.

Their handlers tugged the leashes as the pair hissed and slashed with their claws at the approaching group.

Nefertiti strode between the beasts as if they weren’t there. One of the slaves cast her a withering glance as she passed, but this was also missed.

Probably just as well.

A spindly limbed man came running down the steps to meet the princess at the lower landing. He wore a white, ankle-length tunic and had bangles of gold on his wrists.

“The Glory of the Dawn has returned to us!” he squeaked in a fawning voice. He bowed deeply, then straightened. “I saw your majestic approach from the sentry roost and ran all the way down to greet you.”

She swept him aside with an arm and set about climbing the stairs. “See to the prisoners, Ammon.”

Prisoners, Jake thought dourly. At least we’re no longer slaves.

Ammon stared over at them. His eyes, framed by black eyeliner, grew wider with shock at the sight of the newcomers. Apparently he’d not counted the number of people returning. He waved for the group to follow him, then scurried after Nefertiti.

“I also come with a message from the skymaster!” he called after the princess. “He received a message from the royal palace at Ka-Tor. Your father has woken from his great slumber. He calls for his daughters.”

Shocked, Nefertiti tripped and sprawled across the steps. Ammon rushed forward to help her. She would have none of it and shoved him away. Jake caught a glimpse of her face. For a moment, all haughtiness had vanished. She looked like any girl—both scared and hopeful—then her expression hardened again.

“Father awakes! After two years! And you don’t tell me this from the start! Why didn’t you send a runner to me with the news?”

“Forgive me,” Ammon pleaded, bowing his head to the steps. “We just received word from the city. Only moments ago. Then I saw you coming and ran as fast as I could to bring you these glad tidings. Already the skymaster prepares his ships to sail back to Ka-Tor.”

Nefertiti turned away, her face starting to crumble again. She fled up the steps, her cloak billowing out like the wings of a hawk.

Ammon followed with a grumble under his breath now that he was out of earshot of the princess.

With spears still at their backs, Jake’s group was led up the steps. The stairs wound around and around the peak. The climb offered Jake a good view of the desert in all directions. It stretched endlessly, interrupted by more of the steeplelike pinnacles and ending at that hazy line at the horizon.