Free The Familiars #4: Palace of Dreams by Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson Page A

revealing glasses.”
    “That’s why I let you and Aldwyn come up with the plans,” Gilbert said, still trying to catch up.
    Ahead, the soldiers were starting to hold the line, asking animals and humans to step aside. Confusion was setting in, followed by frustration. Angry travelers began to shout out.
    “What’s the problem?” someone yelled.
    “Come on, let’s keep it moving!” another hollered.
    “Everyone, please, calm down,” one of the guards called back. “We’ll have this all sorted out soon.”
    But wiping down the lenses of their revealing glasses wasn’t going to make this problem disappear.
    Aldwyn, Skylar, and Gilbert, still appearing as a mountain goat, hastened to join the tail end of the line, and more people walked up behind them. The mob was growing more impatient by the minute. If Skylar was able to hold the illusion, their trick just might work. Finally the guards had no choice but to usher the crowd forward.
    The familiars’ mountain goat illusion blended in with the throng now crossing the bridge. Aldwyn, with Skylar and Gilbert on his back, had gotten about halfway to the west side of the bridge when he heard his blue jay companion groan uncomfortably.
    “I can’t maintain them any longer,” she said.
    “Just a little farther,” Aldwyn encouraged.
    “I’m sorry,” Skylar replied.
    Her wing slumped to her side, and suddenly they were exposed as the cat, frog, and bird that they were. Although the humans and animals crossing alongside them looked no different, the illusions Skylar had cast over them were gone as well.
    “We need to get out of here,” Aldwyn said. “Fast.”
    Aldwyn and Gilbert burst into a sprint, while Skylar flew above, but the quickened pace only brought more attention.
    One of the guards standing at the eastern checkpoint spotted them.
    “There they are,” he shouted. “The fugitives!”
    The other passersby on the bridge had no idea what was going on, but the four guards immediately pulled their weapons. From each side they began to close in. Aldwyn, Skylar, and Gilbert were trapped at the center.
    “So you’re absolutely sure you don’t have any more of that Icari weed?” Aldwyn asked Skylar.
    The guards were fast approaching, brandishing their swords.
    Aldwyn thought for a moment about standing his ground and putting up a fight, but the truth was, he was outnumbered. He glanced over the side of the bridge to the swift-moving channel below, looking for the river dragons. They made a habit of trolling these waters, giving locals and visitors alike a good reason not to swim across.
    Then Aldwyn spied a fishing boat coming out from underneath the bridge, dragging its nets at the rear. It would be a long drop to the deck below, but if they were going to make the jump they would have to do it quick.
    “Surrender now,” one of the guards ordered. “We have been authorized to use force if needed.”
    “Skylar, get down to that boat,” Aldwyn said. “Gilbert, follow me.”
    The tree frog followed his gaze to the passing vessel.
    “Having wings makes it so easy,” Gilbert croaked to Skylar.
    The soldiers and their blades were nearly upon the familiars. But before they could strike, Aldwyn and Gilbert made a running leap over the side of the bridge. Aldwyn felt himself falling through the air, paws flailing, and it quickly became apparent that he had mistimed his jump. He and Gilbert weren’t going to be landing on the boat. Instead they crashed into the water behind it.
    The impact felt like a sledgehammer, knocking the wind from Aldwyn’s lungs. He tried to suck in some air but instead swallowed a mouthful of river water. Then the tug of the current dragged Aldwyn under. He’d lost track of Gilbert, but all that was important was getting back to the surface. Only, he was sinking deeper.
    Finally his paws hit something: rope. He’d caught hold of one of the boat’s nets. With all his strength he pulled himself up rung by rung until he was above