“Jet, you may want to see this,” Elly called.

Jet trotted ahead, catching up with her. She pointed.

Ahead, a deep ravine cut across the land. It stretched far to the left and the right, carving the land open. A wooden bridge had stretched across the gap, but no longer. Halfway across the bridge, charred wood crumbled into the ravine. A huge chunk of the center of the bridge was gone, little more than a pile of ash and splinters at the bottom of the ravine. Claw marks scarred the edge of the bridge, biting into the blackened wood. One side of the bridge sagged at the end, trailing planks into the void.

“Drakes didn’t do that,” Jet remarked. Not even a Great Drake could manage something like that. Wyverns, let alone drakes, would struggle to destroy an entire bridge.

Gideon drew up alongside Jet. He clicked his tongue. “No kidding.”

“What do you think? A lesser dragon, perhaps?” Elly suggested. She squinted up, as if the dragon would be circling overhead.

A single hawk cried out in the distance.

“We’ll have to find another way around,” Jet said.

“Do you still think they’re just beasts? They did this deliberately. They’re trying to cut us off,” Gideon said, frowning at the broken bridge.

“Lesser dragons viciously attack anything around their nests. If the bridge ran too close to a lesser dragon’s nest, it would have attacked it,” Elly offered as a counterpoint.

“Drakes get stirred up around lesser dragons’ nests, too. There’s a perfectly rational explanation for all this that doesn’t involve dragons turning into people,” Jet added.

“How come you guys know so much about dragons?” Gideon muttered.

Jet cut a look at him. “Some of us picked up real books at the library.”

“I picked up a real book. It’s a good read, you know?” Gideon said, rummaging in his robes.

“You dropped it, back in the alley,” Jet said.

Gideon held up a finger. He rummaged a little more, then lifted a black and yellow book that was definitely not his tome out of his robes. “No, you dropped it in the alley. I picked it back up.”

Jet sighed deeply.

Tucking the book away, Gideon nodded at the ruined bridge. “Besides, the bridge broke recently. We saw people passing a few hours ago. Do you really think a lesser dragon coincidentally attacked it today, hours before we passed over it?”

Elly frowned. “That is a bit…”

“Coincidences happen.” Jet turned Bluebell around. She snorted, prancing a bit as she turned. “We’ll have to find another way around.”

Leo glanced around. He hopped off Bluebell and jogged to the edge of the cliff.

“Leo?” Elly asked.

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Jet paused and looked back. “Have you been here before?”

At the edge of the cliff, Leo crouched and leaned out over it, bracing his hands against the edge of the cliff. He stood back up and pointed down, nodding.

“How’d a broke stableboy from a hick-nowhere town get all the way out here?” Gideon muttered, glancing aside at Jet.

Jet ignored him. “There’s something down there?”

Leo nodded.

Hopping off Bluebell, Jet glanced at her, then released her reins. She nodded a bit, flicking her ears, but didn’t move.

“Well-trained horse,” Gideon remarked.

Jet knelt where Leo had, propping a hand to peer out into the gorge. About two meters below the edge of the gorge, a narrow ledge descended downward. It criss-crossed along the wall of the gorge, down toward the floor far below. Standing, Jet nodded at the gorge. “There’s a path down here. We’ll have to leave the horses behind.”

“What? I can’t walk,” Gideon complained.

Jet frowned at him, brows furrowing.

“I’m a mage. We don’t… walk,” Gideon emphasized.

“You can walk. Not wanting to walk is different from the inability to walk,” Jet replied. He walked back to Bluebell and patted her neck, looping the reins up onto her saddle. She tossed her head and looked at him, long eyelashes fluttering, nose flickering. She snuffled at his hand. When she came up empty, she turned and walked away.

“Be a good girl, Angie. Find your way home,” Elly whispered, petting Angie’s gray nose. Angie bobbed her head and pawed her hoof, then turned and followed Bluebell.

Reluctantly, Gideon slid off his horse. Angel hopped down after him.

Gideon turned and patted his horse. “Alright, boy, horse. Er, Boyhorse. You be good and—”

The newly dubbed Boyhorse bared his teeth and bit at Gideon’s hand.

Gideon yelped and jumped back, snatching his hand out of Boyhorse’s reach.

Boyhorse let out a scornful snort and turned, following the mares with a flick of his tail.

Gideon stuck his tongue out at Boyhorse’s back. “Stupid gelding. You don’t even have balls.”

“If you’re done mocking a horse…?” Jet said, sitting on the edge of the gorge.

“I could keep going,” Gideon replied.

“Please don’t,” Jet replied. He pushed off the edge and dropped onto the path below, then reached up toward Elly.

Elly started to climb down, but before she could, Gideon pushed her out of the way and took Jet’s hand. “Thanks, thanks.”

Jet pressed his lips together, exasperated, hand still frozen in the air.

Elly gave him a tiny smile and took his hand, climbing down. “Thank you, Jet.”

Angel shrugged and propped her weight on his hand on her way down. “Kind of you.”

Before he could lower his hand, Leo grabbed on as well. He flicked his eyes at Jet, an almost nervous, almost apologetic glint in them, and nodded.

Jet sighed deeply. “You’re welcome, you’re welcome, you’re welcome…”

At the lead of the line, Gideon froze. He stared along the path, then plastered himself to the wall. “I’m not going first. This is dangerous.”

“Then why did you come down first?” Jet burst, frustrated.

Leo patted Jet’s shoulder. He glanced at Jet, then pointed to the lead and nodded.

“Everyone, against the wall. Leo, go ahead,” Jet said.

“Why didn’t he go first, if he was going to lead? Why’d he go last?” Gideon grumbled.

“You’re the one who cut—” Jet cut himself off and took a deep breath. You’ll accomplish nothing. Take a deep breath. Stop talking.

Leo wriggled past. Gideon stared at him the whole way, eyes slightly narrowed. Sweat began to drip down his face, and he swallowed. He stepped on the very edge of the ledge, eyeing Gideon nervously.

The ledge crumbled under Leo’s foot. His arms pinwheeled as he swung backward, his eyes wide. A pitiful dry squeal escaped his throat.

Gideon lunged and caught him by the overall straps. They both fell backward. Gideon’s shoulders smacked into the cliff wall with a puff of dirt, and Leo fell against him.

Leo gasped a breath. He cut his eyes at Gideon.

“Well? Get off me,” Gideon grunted.

Nodding, Leo pushed away and wriggled past Gideon. He glanced back once more, then hurried down the path. Despite his gangly half-grown body, he raced ahead, surefooted. At the edge, where the path cut back across the cliff, he turned back to make sure the others were following, then twisted around the corner.

Gideon followed slowly, his steps uncertain. He wobbled along, ungainly despite being fully grown. Bracing both hands onto the wall and holding on to every stone he found, he descended after Leo.

Elly followed, delicately lifting her skirt in one hand, and Jet brought up the rear, exhausted. Together, they descended the narrow path.