Free The Shadowhand Covenant by Brian Farrey

ignite the entire field.”
    So exactly why was there so much tinderjack? Tinderjack was fairly rare, and nature made sure two plants didn’t blossom near each other or they could both be destroyed during the bloom. This couldn’t have occurred naturally.
    Concentrate, Jaxter. You’re facing down three vessapedes and standing in the biggest field of explosives in the Five Provinces. Now is not the time for scientific curiosity.
    I looked around. A few more plants, some right in the thick of the field, were shaking, getting ready to bloom. It was only a matter of time before a fire burst ignited one of those pods, which would detonate everything around it and then . . .
    â€œHow does this sound?” I said, laying the egg gently down in an exposed spot near my feet. “Why don’t I just put your egg right here? And you could maybe move away from the exit? Then we can all just walk—or slither, whatever you like—away and nobody has to get blown up. Deal?”
    With exaggerated, careful steps, I moved sideways away from the egg. I trod carefully between plants, putting asmuch space between me and the egg as possible. Soon, I was up against the wall with nowhere to go.
    The vessapedes looked to one another, clicking with their metallic teeth. Slowly, they moved to a small clearing opposite the wall where I stood. They each reared up and stretched their spiky tendrils out over the tinderjack field toward the egg.
    My back to the wall, I walked along the edge toward the cave entrance. I gasped as a tinderjack bloomed at my feet, sending a jet of flame up past my face. Realizing there was little to stop the vessapedes from coming after me once they had their egg, I came up with a plan. Bending over, I gripped the newly exposed pod at the center of the flower firmly in both hands and gave it a quick, sharp tug.
    It came loose from the stamen easily, and a trail of light-gray powder started to trickle from the hole at the pod’s base. I continued my slow march to the entrance, letting the pod leave a trail of powder in my wake.
    The vessapedes didn’t know where to keep their multiple eyes: on me or their efforts to retrieve the egg. As I reached the mouth of the tunnel, I gave them a small salute. The queen had just managed to wrap a tendril around her eggwhen her two companions suddenly shot their own tendrils in my direction. With a yell, I slammed the nearly empty pod down at my feet. It erupted in a small ball of fire that raced along the trail of powder and back into the field of tinderjack.
    I dashed down the tunnel as a deafening explosion rent the air and sent me flying. Flames shot from the tinderjack cavern. The vessapedes screamed. One by one, the plants detonated, shaking the tunnel until the entrance to the tinderjack chamber collapsed.
    The ceiling quaked, sending more rocks and dirt on top of me. Soon, it would cave in. I picked myself up and plunged into the dark tunnel, running hard and not bothering to look back.
    I emerged into the tunnel where the paths split off in three directions. There I found Reena and Holm standing guard over Maloch, who was once again tied with his arms behind his back. Reena waved her dagger and I fell in next to Maloch, hands raised. With a shove, the Sarosans led us back to their camp.
    The effort to rebuild had already begun. Tents were being resurrected, debris was being recycled, and the wounded were being treated. But everything froze when Reena and Holm proudly offered up their hostages.
    Throngs of Sarosans gathered around us. Warras, the feathers on his head matted down with blood, pushed through to the head of the crowd. I held up my hand.
    â€œWe just saved you,” I said. “You owe us an explanation. We want to talk to your leader.”
    â€œThat would be me.”
    A wizened, gaunt man stepped out from behind Warras. The long white hair that spilled down his back also framed his wrinkled and careworn face. Unlike the