He suddenly wanted nothing more than to save little Karas from her own disease; never mind that she didn’t even know she was diseased. The Forest Guard was sworn to kill the Horde, but at this moment Johnis wanted to save this frightened Scab.

But they didn’t have time.

Silvie and Rosa were both up on their feet.

“Johnis? Dear Elyon, Johnis!” Rosa rushed forward and kissed him on his cheeks, then started on his hands, weeping with gratitude now.

“Mother, we don’t have time. I love you desperately, and I’ll tell you later, but right now I need you to run.” He spun to Silvie. “Through the passage, up the stairs, there’s a stable out the back. Mount and ride as hard as you can, out of the city.”

“You?”

“I’m with you.” Dropping the nearly empty bag of water, he rushed to the gate and pushed them ahead of him. “If we get separated, we meet at the rocks, follow?”

“Follow,” she said.

“Then on into the desert, if the other party doesn’t come within ten minutes. We’ll have Horde horses, so we’ll need a head start.” The desert water that the Horde horses drank made them slower than Guard horses, it was said. None of them really knew if that was the real reason.

They ran toward the tunnel, first Rosa, then Silvie, then Johnis. They were going to make it. There was still the main road to navigate at full speed and the desert to cross, but armed with swords and free on horses, he and Silvie could manage easily enough.

A surge of hope and gratitude washed over him. There was Thomas, but they actually had a chance of recovering him from the Red Valley now. He’d hoped against the faintest hope that precisely this would be his outcome.

Speed, boldness, and more than a little bit of foolishness had become speed, boldness, and brilliant maneuvering.

Only the missing Books of History remained problematic. But his first priority had to be his mother. Then he would get back to his vow and start the quest for the books from scratch.

“Through the tunnel, all the way to the end!” His voice echoed softly in the long passage. “Come on, Karas!”

No response. He turned around. “Karas?”

But Karas was gone. The room was empty except for the limp bag of water in the cage. And deadly silent. She’d run into another passage, perhaps, unnerved by his water.

“Johnis!” Silvie whispered.

“Go, go!” He ran after them, down the tunnel, into the underground room with the large table and weapons.

“Follow me,” he breathed, rushing past them. “It’s a sprint out of the city now.”