The Seer by Rowan McAllister (reading comprehension books .TXT) 📕

to have to face them at some point, so they need to know how to fight with magic. Enemy of my enemy, and all that.”

Daks snorted. “They won’t get far with the power-hungry old bastards in Scholoveld. They won’t share anything that isn’t pried out of their cold dead hands.” He shot a glance at Ravi and winced. “Except, you know, unless you’re one of them,” he amended.

“Not our problem,” Shura cut in impatiently. “They bargained for guides and an introduction. That is all.”

“True,” he conceded, pride making his lips curl at the corners as he gazed at his partner.

“We meet them at the ninth gate an hour after dark. We’ll hide you and this one in a wagon,” she continued, crooking a thumb at Ravi. “When we’re far enough away from the city, we split from the others. They could only afford to give us two horses, the one Maran’s lieutenant will have and one for us, so we will have to share or switch off walking, but it should only take us a day to get to Urmat. We head for our contact there and hope he can get us a boat across the river. Once we’re safely in Samebar, we’ll figure out the rest.”

With a grunt, Daks turned to Ravi and lifted his eyebrows. “Think you can hang on to your Visions for a day and a half?”

“I don’t know.”

“We take no chances at the gate,” Shura said curtly.

She pulled a small stoppered glass vial out of the inner pocket of her cloak and held it up to the pale shaft of bluish light coming from the opening.

“What’s that?” Ravi asked.

“Sleeping draught. When we get near the gate, you take it. You fall into a gentle, dreamless sleep, we stow you away in a trunk, and out you go, magic-sniffers none the wiser.”

Even inside the depths of his hood, the whites of Ravi’s eyes caught the light as he gaped at her and took a step back. “No way. What if something goes wrong? I’ll be helpless. I won’t be able to run. I won’t be able to do anything.”

“Young man,” Shura began, softening her voice and her expression, “Finders will be at the gates. Not all, maybe, but we don’t know how many or which. This is the only way to guarantee you won’t lose control and give us away.” She crooked a thumb at Daks. “This one carried you last night when you were out.”

“It was his fault in the first place, and I didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter!” Ravi argued.

“You got a better idea?” Daks asked.

Ravi turned his glare on him, his hood falling back a bit. “Yeah, I stay conscious.”

“And we take our chances that all those new people you’re around, the gate guards, possibly a Finder or other member of the Brotherhood won’t trigger another Vision?”

Ravi closed his mouth with a loud click of his teeth coming together and stubbornly jutted out his chin. Daks raised his eyebrows to Shura, and she pursed her lips before turning to glance out the opening to the alley beyond. Barely a hint of light showed through the crack now.

“We are out of time for arguing,” she muttered.

In one smooth motion, she pulled her dagger from its hidden sheath along her forearm. Before Ravi could do anything but yelp and take a step backward, she was at his side. She tapped him on the temple with the butt of her knife, and he dropped to the dirt at her feet.

Daks wasn’t exactly shocked. He did grimace at her, though. “He won’t be out long, and then what?”

She knelt next to Ravi’s prone form, unstoppered the vial, and poured some into his mouth. He choked and spluttered, rousing enough to roll accusatory eyes in her direction before those eyes became unfocused and closed again.

“You carried him last night,” Shura replied, stoppering the vial and putting it back in her cloak. “You carry him tonight.”

“Are you kidding?” Daks whined. “Did I mention that I carried him for at least an hour last night? Do you know how heavy he is? A lot heavier than he looks, I’ll tell you that.”

She twisted her lips. “Poor, poor baby. You should be glad this is the only punishment you get for being so, so….” She let out a string of Cigani curses before visibly reining in her temper and smoothing out her features. “This is the plan. No one fights me on it unless it fails. You get him. I get the packs. Let us go.”

After stooping to grab all four packs, she shoved them out the small opening and then followed, leaving him alone with an unconscious Ravi yet again. With a heavy sigh, he grabbed Ravi under the arms and dragged him through the opening, scraping his shoulders and upper arms against the rough wood and knocking a board loose in the process. Shura waited at the head of the alley, loaded down with their gear. This time, Daks was smart enough to drape Ravi’s lumpy bag across his own chest before he hefted Ravi over his shoulders again.

He’d be lucky if he could move tomorrow.

“Lead the way,” he wheezed as he joined her.

She took another sweep of their surroundings before heading north at a fast walk, and Daks stifled a whine and followed. Time passed agonizingly slowly. Daks had to use every ounce of his energy to keep his legs moving while searching every side street and shadow for possible trouble. If anyone ever asked him how long they’d traveled or what route they’d taken, he wouldn’t be able to say, even at knifepoint. The entire journey was a blur of pain and dragging air into his lungs like a bellows. His throat hurt. His chest hurt. His thighs screamed alongside his shoulders and back.

So this is what the Seventh Hell feels like.

When they finally stopped in a dark alley, Daks unloaded his burden with a little less care than he probably should have and