The forest covered the signs of their passage, and after an hour, Hux slowed. Hux had found a small clearing next to a rocky outcrop. Perfect.

Kerrick gathered everyone around. “The guards are closing in. I need you to touch Huxley with your hand or be in skin contact with someone who is touching him. My magic will camouflage us all through the horse. Some of you can sit on the rocks or the ground. If you break contact at any time, you’ll be seen. Hopefully, the guards will give up the search, but we’ll stay hidden and make no noise as long as it takes. Understand?”

Nods and a few “yes, sirs” sounded. Kerrick moved Huxley next to the outcrop and waited for everyone to settle into a comfortable position. A few sat on the rocks, holding hands and making a human chain. Flea and Belen stood near Hux’s head.

“This is new,” Belen said in a low voice.

Flea huffed. “You haven’t seen nothin’. It’ll take us hours to fill you in on all the new.”

Kerrick hushed them. “Everyone ready? Operation Disappear starts now.” He rested his hand on Huxley’s neck.

“Operation Disappear?” Flea chuckled. “Now who’s been hanging around the monkeys too long?”

“Quiet.” But Kerrick couldn’t help smiling despite the dangerous circumstances. They’d found Belen!

He’d lost a great deal of weight and was pale. Except where a thick scar crossed from the back of his head to his right temple, his black hair had grown long and bushy, matching his beard.

It didn’t take long for the noise of the Skeleton King’s soldiers to reach them. Kerrick tensed. Black figures moved through the woods, heading in their direction. A few cursed and a couple stumbled. Kerrick connected with the living green. Sluggish, it resisted his efforts to thicken the underbrush surrounding the clearing. Using the ivy for the rescue had almost depleted Kerrick’s resources. Kerrick saved the little bit of strength he had left instead.

The sky lightened, diluting the blackness above. Not good. The rising sun might expose them by casting their shadows on the ground. He watched as the soldiers drew closer. Kerrick urged them on. It would be a race against the sun.

Five of them entered the clearing, while the others continued past. Two aimed straight for them. Kerrick pulled magic. He focused it at a tree root growing underground. The root surfaced above the dirt, high enough to trip them and knock them off course. Then he used his magic to shake the trees to the left of the outcrop, drawing them away.