“Here, here!” Farshaun pushed him down again. “You can’t walk on that leg without support. You’ll make it worse if you try.”

Skint was staring off toward the cliffs. “Maybe I should have a look around while we’re waiting. Just to see if anything’s happened.”

He wandered back toward the trees and disappeared. Railing and Farshaun watched him go. The boy glanced at the darkening sky and felt the first twinges of uneasiness begin to settle in.

Then Seersha hurried over to them and knelt, her blunt features troubled. “There’s movement in the rocks below the bluff. I think those little monsters are getting ready to mount another attack.”

She gave them a look. “If they come at us after dark, I don’t think we can stop them. We have to get out of here right now.”

Khyber Elessedil regained consciousness. She saw Pleysia on her knees wailing in despair as the dragon disappeared. Carrick and the Trolls were staring after it, stunned looks on their faces. She called to Redden Ohmsford who, having regained a small measure of his composure, hurried over.

“Help me up,” she ordered.

She said it in a way that did not allow for any argument, and he did as he was asked, lifting her back to her feet. She was surprised at how easily he lifted her, as if her age had sapped her of substance and left her little more than skin and hollow bones. She took a moment to find her balance and then stepped away from him. “Are you all right?” she asked.

He nodded. “But the dragon took Crace Coram and Oriantha.”

She glanced at Pleysia, still kneeling on the ground, keening softly. She knew Garroneck and several other Trolls were lost, as well; she had seen it happen. She took in the huddle of Trolls who remained; only four of them were left. Her entire Druid Guard, decimated. She saw Carrick staring at her accusingly.

Then Redden said, “The way back is gone.”

She turned, not sure she had heard right. “What?”

“The shimmer we passed through to get here. It’s disappeared.”

She looked in the direction he was indicating and found no sign of it. She took a moment to scan the entire area carefully. Nothing. What was happening?

Something tweaked her memory, something she had learned long ago when Grianne Ohmsford was Ard Rhys and the Druid order was in shambles. Grianne had spoken of what had been done to her, of what she had endured to survive inside …

She couldn’t finish the sentence, couldn’t bear the weight of it. Because suddenly she understood everything. Giant insects. Packs of creatures that in the time of Faerie would have been recognized instantly as Goblins.

And now a dragon, she whispered to herself.

A dracha.

All things that Elven magic had locked away centuries ago, imprisoned ever since by the magic of the Ellcrys.