The six of them gathered around the small table inside Ren’s cabin. The sun had gone down, and now they worked by orb lights summoned by Kestrel.

  Wisteria added details to places on her map as Seraiah’s father tried to recall all that he could remember about the human camp. Kestrel had insisted they needed to know as much as possible before setting out.

  “Most of this is where people would sleep or have fires,” Papa said. “None of us had tents or anything to shield against the elements. We cleared all the trees from here and created a path to where the digging was.” He traced his finger over the page in a curving line.

  “How far would you say it was from the camp to where you were digging?” Kai asked. Seraiah’s shoulder brushed his as he leaned forward to get a better look at the path that Wisteria had added.

  “Oh, maybe a fifteen-minute walk in the beginning, but as the site widened it became less. It started here,” Papa tapped the paper, “and then grew like this.” He circled around the original point.

  “How deep is the hole?”

  “Deep enough for a man to stand in it and not be seen,” Seraiah’s father said. “In the beginning, ropes were needed to help pull out those who were digging. They later added a ramp to get in and out. A guard was always posted there so no one could leave before it was time.”

  “What about trees?” Kestrel asked. “How close was the tree line around the hole? Are we going to have cover?”

  “Well, it would depend,” Seraiah’s father said. “Trees were taken out as needed to expand the area of the hole. It was done in sections. It could be the trees will be near the edge now, or it may have been freshly cleared. We won’t know until we are there.”

  They continued asking questions about the guards and the schedules and how often new elves came from Nyrene until Kai was satisfied that they’d learned all they could.

  “The key will be making sure no one can get back to Nyrene and alert Gavaran before we can get everyone away,” Eryx said.

  “Yes, we’ll have to be fast. Strike after the shift change and move out before the next,” Kai said.

  “You think we can move all those people that fast?” Kestrel asked. “Gavaran has taken two entire cities, and getting all of them to follow you is going to be difficult, especially since you look an awful lot like the enemy.”

  “That’s why I’m going,” Seraiah’s father said. “Some of them will know me.”

  “What? No, you’re not,” Seraiah said. “You’re staying here where you will be safe. Kai, please tell me you did not agree to this.”

  “He does not tell me what to do,” her father said before Kai could answer. “I have made up my own mind, and no one here will change it. I’m going, and that’s final. You will need all the help you can get if you mean to save them all.”

  “He’s right,” Kai said. “We’ll need everyone’s help, and even then, this rescue may not be possible. We’ll leave tomorrow. We’ll be sharing horses, so only bring whatever is absolutely necessary for a few days’ travel.”

  It was several days before they closed in on the camp. They could smell it before they could see it.

  Kai grimaced as Kestrel gagged and pressed a hand over her face. The others pulled their tunics up to block out the stench.

  “This is worse than it was before,” Wisteria said, her voice muffled by the cloth.

  “It smells like something died,” Kestrel said, “and then rotted.”

  Many somethings or someones had likely died here if Wisteria and Seraiah’s father’s story was to be believed. Perhaps they wouldn’t be rescuing as many as expected.

  They kept going until they heard the sounds of digging, indicating they were closing in on the hole. Since it was daytime, they’d chosen to approach the hole rather than the camp. Seraiah’s father said this was where the majority of humans would be until nightfall.

  “We will split into pairs,” Kai said. “Seraiah, you and your father will take the north. Eryx and Wisteria will take center, and Kestrel and I will take south. Do not make contact. We are going to observe only. We need to know the number of humans as well as elves. Be back here by sundown.”

  It would give them a few hours to get into place and maybe see a shift change.

  They paired off and set out for their assigned area.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t take Seraiah with you,” Kestrel said as they walked, “but then again maybe that would be a distraction.”

  He knew she was only teasing, but he said, “Not a distraction, but I didn’t think she’d want to be separated from her father. She would likely blame herself if anything were to happen to him while she were elsewhere.”

  “Absolutely, whatever you need to tell yourself,” Kestrel said with a grin.

  They made their way around the edge of the hole using sound to help them gauge how far to go. Then they got into position, staying just inside the edge of the tree line.

  An area of about fifteen feet had been cleared around the edge of the hole, and it had become big enough now that they could no longer see the other side from where they were.

  Two elves stood on the edge closest to them with their backs to the trees, hands resting lightly on the swords at their sides. A short distance away, Kai could make out another pair.

  “Idiots,” Kestrel murmured, “don’t they know not to leave their backs exposed. I thought I trained them better than that.”

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  “It’s to our advantage your training didn’t stick,” he said. “It will make our job much easier when we sneak up on them.”

  “I suppose. I’m going to climb a tree to see if I can get a better look,” she said.

  “Good idea. I’ll wait here.”

  In the whole time he was watching, the guards never moved. They didn’t bother to walk the perimeter or look at the trees behind them, but every once in a while, they would shout at the humans to work faster. It was clear they didn’t expect any trouble—from the humans or outside forces.

  “I have good news and bad news,” Kestrel said, sneaking up behind him.

  “Tell me the good first.”

  “It shouldn’t be hard to stage this rescue.”

  “And the bad?”

  “It shouldn’t be hard to stage this rescue. There are very few humans. Still a good number, but not what I would expect to see for two cities worth,” she said.

  “They could be at the camp. Maybe they have them working in shifts now,” he suggested.

  He knew what the more likely reason was for the decrease in numbers.

  “Maybe,” Kestrel agreed. Her face said she was thinking the same thing he was. “Let’s get back to the others and hope they have something better to report.”

  Night had already fallen by the time they arrived back at the arranged meeting spot. Eryx and Wisteria were waiting for them, but there was no sign of Seraiah and her father. Kai wasn’t worried yet as the pair had a longer distance to travel.

  They exchanged reports as the woods grew darker around them, and still Seraiah didn’t appear.

  Finally, Wisteria was the one to say what they all feared out loud. “I don’t think they are coming.”

  Seraiah was glad she’d worn pants as she and her father crept through the underbrush to the edge of the tree line. Every once in a while, Papa whispered a curse when he put his hand in the wrong place on one of the thorny plants. She had her own fair share of scratches from them, but it didn’t matter. Soon they would be in view of the hole, and she would get her first look at the terrible camp her father had spent time in.

  She knew it would take all of her willpower not to attack any elves she saw there. They deserved to pay for what they were doing to her fellow humans, even if it was on someone else’s orders, but now was not the time. First, they needed to get the remaining prisoners out of there before any more harm could come to them.

  She lifted a hand in silent signal to Papa that she had reached the edge of the trees. They would have to be especially careful now. One wrong move could give away their hiding spot, and they’d end up as prisoners themselves.

  Papa took up a position next to her and waited for the next signal. It was still strange for him to be relying on her rather than the other way around.

  She took a moment to take in their surroundings before she decided how best to do this. A couple of the trees around them had low-hanging branches that might be good for climbing. She had always been terrible at climbing trees, but Papa was too old to attempt such a thing.

  Better not to risk it.

  Using the bushes at the edge of the tree line seemed like a good idea as long as they could avoid rustling them too much. She eyed the nearest cluster, noting they were the ones with thorns. She’d have to move farther down and try again.

  Seraiah motioned to her father to stay where he was before heading off. Skirting around the thorny bushes, she aimed for a tree with a trunk as big around as one of the dragon’s necks. She flattened herself behind the bulk of it, and then peeked around the right side. The view directly in front of her was clear, and the edge of the hole was at least fifteen feet away. She could hear the scrape of a tool against dirt but couldn’t see anyone. Switching positions, she peeked around the left side of the tree.

  There were two guards standing near the edge, both facing away from her. They weren’t more than a few feet down from where Papa waited, making Seraiah glad she’d decided not to risk the bushes.

  She retrieved Papa and pointed out the guards to him. “There are only those two,” she whispered, “and I don’t see any humans.”

  Papa shook his head as he stared at the hole.

  “What? What is it?”

  “Nothing,” he murmured. “We might not be able to see anyone because the hole has gotten so big. It was only a fraction of this when I was here.”

  “Maybe,” Seraiah agreed, wanting to believe he was right.

  She watched the guards lean over the hole and speak to someone below. The words were too quiet to reach her ears, but whoever responded didn’t sound happy. One guard reached for his sword, but the other one stopped him. They argued between themselves, gesturing to whoever was down below. They must have come to a decision because the one who had tried to draw his sword jumped down into the hole.

  “What is going on?” Seraiah whispered to her father, who was also watching the scene. “What are they doing?”

  “Nothing good,” he whispered back.

  As they watched, the guard dragged a girl out of the hole. She was putting up a fight but was no match for the elf. The second guard helped subdue her, and that’s when Seraiah got a good look at her face. There was something familiar about her.

  “That’s Nissa. Does that mean Freya is here too?” Seraiah asked.

  Papa shook his head. “I never saw her.”

  The last time Seraiah had seen Nissa had been the night she’d come to their house to tell Seraiah that Sterling was missing. It was hard to picture that girl now. This girl looked older; her face haggard. Her clothing was nothing more than dirty rags, and her hair hung in a tangled mess around her face, like she hadn’t bathed in months.

  Nissa spat at one of the guards, and he backhanded her.

  Seraiah cringed. “We have to help her.”

  “No.” Papa put a hand on her arm like he was afraid she was going to run out there. “We have to wait. If you try to rescue her now, you could ruin any of your friends’ plans. They will be out here combing the woods for others.”

  “But what if we don’t get to her in time?” Seraiah argued.

  “You will. Nissa is a tough girl, especially if she has survived this long. We need to go back before your friends think something happened to us.”

  Seraiah wasn’t listening anymore. She was watching as the guards dragged Nissa away.

  “Where are they taking her?”

  “Don’t know, but we need to go back,” Papa repeated.

  “Not yet. I need to see where they’re going.”

  He sighed. “Seraiah, this isn’t a good idea. We could be caught, and you are going to unnecessarily worry the others.”

  She waved him off. “They will be fine. We need to know more about the camp, and if we follow them, we can see what else is going on besides this hole. We’ll stay within the tree line and see where they take her. Then we will go back. I promise.”

  Papa stared at her before finally relenting. “Promise me, no matter what you see, you will not try to interfere.”

  “Yes, I promise,” she said quickly. “We will only observe and report back to the others.”

  They stayed well behind Nissa and the guards as they left the hole behind. After a few minutes of walking, Seraiah noticed the trees had started to thin out. They were about to reach the end of the forested area.

  “Are they taking her back to the camp?” Seraiah asked.

  “No,” Papa said. “The camp was in the other direction. I’m not sure where they are going now. I’ve never been out this far.”

  As they walked, the sickly sweet stench of something rotting grew stronger until Seraiah could no longer breathe through her nose without gagging.

  They reached the end of the forest, and Nissa was almost out of sight when the guards finally stopped and shoved her toward something. Seraiah could hear waves crashing somewhere, so she knew they must be close to the ocean. There were a few other humans out there in the open area with Nissa, moving between piles of something, shifting them around.

  “I’m going to climb a tree,” Seraiah told her father.

  “Is that a good idea?”

  “You said I couldn’t leave the tree line, so it’s the only way I’m going to be able to get a look at what they’re doing over there.”

  “Be careful.”

  Seraiah grabbed the nearest low-hanging branch and pulled herself up. It was slow going, but finally, she made it high enough to be able to get a good look at the area.

  She squinted in the falling darkness and nearly fell out of the tree when she realized what she was looking at.

  The piles dotting the ground were bodies.

  Piles and piles of bodies.