Rayna's Sacrifice (The Katori Chronicles Book 3) by A. Lombardo (intellectual books to read .TXT) 📗

stretched. “If we mean to catch Lucca tomorrow, and I believe we can, we need to be up at dawn. For safety, someone needs to keep the fire going all night. We should take turns keeping watch. Ryker, would you mind going first? I can go second, and Kai can take the last shift.”

Ryker nodded and walked off into the shadows.

Kai sighed in relief. “Sounds good to me. Wake me when it is my turn; I will wake everyone at dawn.”

He walked Rayna to her pod and then went to bed.

◆◆◆

When Kai woke, it was Ryker who jostled him. “Wake up. Basil is gone, and so is our raft. I asked around, nobody saw him leave. But we no longer have a raft to ride the river.” Dawn peeked through the cracks of Kai’s pod.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Kai swung his legs to the floor. His back ached from the lack of padding in his bedroll. “What do you mean, Basil is gone?”

Ryker jumped out of the pod and Kai followed. Sure enough, most of their supplies were gone and the raft was no longer tied down by the shore. After waking Rayna, they surveyed their situation. Ryker poked at the smoldering embers. “Seems like after I woke Basil and went to sleep, he abandoned us. He took most of the supplies and headed downriver in the night.”

“Are you sure?” Rayna asked. “Maybe the raft came loose on its own and floated away. Basil could be trying to…”

“No,” Ryker snapped. “His bedroll is gone, as is his fishing gear and cooking pan. He left. I ran downriver to see if I could find him, but he is gone.”

Kai poured his water over the embers of their fire, his gut in knots. Stranded in the middle of nowhere, they had few choices. If only he could transform and fly them, but it was too risky for a young Beastmaster to carry passengers. “So, what do we do now? We have no raft or horses. I can’t see begging another group to help us.”

The expression on Ryker’s face showed determination. “I am not giving up.” He poked at the smoldering ash to be sure their fire was out. “But we can only run for so long. We are less than halfway there. It takes two-and-a-half days by river or five to six days by horse.”

Rayna’s sighed, braiding her long brown hair. “Basil was so helpful, why would he leave us?”

Ryker shook his head. “Foolish. We all fell for his lies. He is Lucca’s closest friend. I should have foreseen this. We never should have trusted him. Now he knows we hope to travel with Liam and Yulia. He will tell Lucca everything.”

“It is not your fault, Ryker.” Kai tied his bootlaces tight. “We all trusted him. But since we’re stuck here, what is the alternative to running?”

“As a shuk, I can cover more ground. You two will need to ride. Leave everything but our remaining food. We must travel as light as possible.”

Kai tossed Ryker his bedroll. “I will keep an eye on the road for Liam and Yulia. Besides needing to catch Lucca, we need them to help navigate the Mystic Islands.”

“Agreed,” Ryker stowed their supplies in one tree pod while Rayna packed all their food into a single bag.

Watching Ryker transform into a black shuk, Kai noticed the ease in his change. He wished he’d had more time to practice. The mighty beast stooped to allow him and Rayna to climb up.

Chapter 23

Caught in the Middle

All afternoon Ryker ran. Overhead the glaring sun burned their shoulders. The shuk’s black fur felt hot against Kai’s hands. The pounding of his paws was barely noticeable across the terrain. As they rode, Kai eased into the rhythm of their stride, finding it rather like riding a horse. Even with the occasional stop to cool off, it was easy to see everyone was feeling the wear of their situation.

There was no sign of Lucca or Basil. Each raft they spotted caused Kai’s heart to jump with anticipation, and then fall when the rafter was someone else. After the third group, Kai wondered if he had somehow missed Basil. Doubt crept around the corners of his mind. Thoughts of reaching his mother in time filled him with determination, and he gleaned the river ahead. Still, there was no sign of Basil or Lucca.

The shimmer of the water was blinding, and Kai closed his eyes for a moment. Rayna tapped his shoulder and pointed. “It is another string of wagons. Maybe Liam and Yulia are with them.”

Kai counted three wagons with seven individual riders. Ryker slowed. They eyed each passenger and meandered close to each cart, but when they confirmed Liam and Yulia were not among this group either, they plodded onward. Mile after mile, they traveled between the black road and the blue Makani river, snaking through the landscape.

Even though Kai was not doing the work, he was beginning to feel exhausted. They needed to stop again soon, at least for Ryker’s sake. When the trees thinned, they were back in the full sun, and everything got hotter by the minute. Sweat dripped off Kai’s face. Even with the small breeze, the weather was unusually warm. Concerned for Ryker, he reached out with his mind. Ryker, we should stop for water. You need a break.

There was no response. He hated to beg, but they needed to stop. He could feel the sweat on his back where Rayna pressed against him to hold on to his waist. He tried again. Ryker, you are no use to us dehydrated and weak. Please take a break.

The beast continued with no response. Reluctant to beg further, Kai continued to watch for Liam and Yulia as they passed travelers on the road. It had been a while since they’d seen anyone on the river, and Kai was beginning to lose hope. Basil was gone, and Lucca was even further out of