Free Rise of the Valiant by Morgan Rice

find
out.”
    “You don’t
know?” Dierdre pressed. “A dragon swoops down from the sky to fight for you,
and you don’t know why?”
    Kyra thought
about how crazy that sounded, yet she could only shake her head. She looked up
reflexively at the skies, and between the gnarled branches, despite all hope,
she hoped for a sign of Theos.
    But saw nothing
but gloom. She heard no dragon, and her sense of isolation deepened.
    “You know that
you are different, don’t you?” Dierdre pressed.
    Kyra shrugged,
her cheeks burning, feeling self-conscious. She wondered if her friend looked
at her as if she were some kind of freak.
    “I used to be so
sure of everything,” Kyra replied. “But now…I honestly don’t know anymore.”
    They continued
riding for hours, falling back into a comfortable silence, sometimes trotting
when the wood opened up, at other times the wood so dense they needed to
dismount and lead their beasts. Kyra felt on edge the entire time, feeling as
if they could be attacked at any moment, never able to relax in this forest.
She did not know what hurt her more: the cold or the hunger pains ripping
through her stomach. Her muscles ached, and she couldn’t feel her lips. She was
miserable. She could hardly conceive their quest had barely begun.
    After hours more
passed, Leo began to whine. It was a strange noise—not his usual whine, but the
one he reserved for times when he smelled food. At the same moment Kyra, too,
smelled something—and Dierdre turned in the same direction and stared.
    Kyra peered
through the wood, but saw nothing. As they stopped and listened, she began to
hear the faintest sound of activity somewhere up ahead.
    Kyra was both
excited by the smell and nervous about what that could mean: others were
sharing this wood with them. She recalled her father’s warning, and the last
thing she wanted was a confrontation. Not here and not now.
    Dierdre looked
at her.
    “I’m famished,”
Dierdre said.
    Kyra, too, felt
the hunger pangs.
    “Whoever it is,
on a night like this,” Kyra replied, “I have a feeling they won’t be keen to
share.”
    “We have plenty
of gold,” Dierdre said. “Perhaps they will sell us some.”
    But Kyra shook
her head, having a sinking feeling, while Leo whined and licked his lips,
clearly famished, too.
    “I don’t think
it’s wise,” Kyra said, despite the pains in her stomach. “We should stick to
our path.”
    “And if we find
no food?” Dierdre persisted. “We could all die of hunger out here. Our horses,
too. It could be days, and this might be our only chance. Besides, we have
little to fear. You have your weapons, I have mine, and we have Leo and Andor.
If you need to, you could put three arrows in someone before he blinked—and we
could be far off by then.”
    But Kyra
hesitated, unconvinced.
    “Besides, I
doubt a hunter with a spit of meat will cause us all any harm,” Dierdre added.
    Kyra, sensing
everyone else’s hunger, their desire to pursue it, could resist no longer.
    “I don’t like
it,” she said. “Let us go slowly and see who it is. If we sense trouble, you
must agree to leave before we get close.”
    Dierdre nodded.
    “I promise you,”
she replied.
    They all headed
off, riding at a fast walk through the woods. As the smell grew stronger, Kyra
saw a dim glow up ahead, and as they rode for it, her heart beat faster as she
wondered who it could be out here.
    They slowed as
they approached, riding more cautiously, weaving between the trees. The glow
grew brighter, the noise louder, the commotion greater, as Kyra sensed they
were on the periphery of a large group of people.
    Dierdre, less
cautious, letting her hunger get the best of her, rode faster, moving up ahead
and gaining a bit of distance.
    “Dierdre!” Kyra
hissed, urging her back.
    But Dierdre kept
moving, seemingly overcome by her hunger.
    Kyra hurried to
keep up with her, and as she did, the glow became brighter as Dierdre stopped
at the edge of a clearing. As