He was in freefall for a second, long enough to see his life flash before his eyes—his father’s disappointment that he had failed this task, and a brief thought of his mother, whom he might see again sooner than he’d thought.

  He landed hard, his shoulder slamming against a rock. Pain shot through his arm, and he lay there for a moment, dazed and winded and just tried to catch his breath. He was not used to handling pain.

  “Theo!”

  Somewhere far above, he heard his name called. Freya.

  He clumsily came to a sitting position, his arm throbbing, and was about to shout back…

  That was when he realized he wasn’t alone.

  A low hiss rumbled through the underbrush, and two yellow eyes glowed from the shadows. A black serpent slithered into view, moving its long, sleek body with a sinuous grace that belied its lethal intent.

  Theo backed up against a tree, his hand grasping for the sword at his side, but he had hurt his sword-arm and moving it sent spikes of pain all the way from his fingers up to his neck. He would never unsheathe the sword in time to defend himself—he probably wouldn’t even be able to get a good grip on the sword.

  The serpent hissed again, its tongue flicking out as it tasted the air. Theo’s heart hammered in his chest, deafeningly loud. He knew he could never outrun the creature.

  “Theo!” he heard again. Was the sound closer now than before?

  Theo wanted to answer, but his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth, and all he got out was a weak, “Help!” that barely made it past his lips.

  The serpent coiled back, preparing to strike.

  Theo winced and squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for pain and death.

  Instead, the sound of something sharp cutting through the air made him snap his eyes open—in time to see the snake’s head separate from its body thanks to Bruni’s sharp ax. Bruni glared at the dead snake as if it had offended him.

  “Y-you,” Theo stuttered. “You saved me.”

  Bruni turned his glare on Theo. “Keep your feet on the ground, your head up, boy. Is that concept so hard to grasp?”

  “T-thank you,” Theo said, ignoring the sharp words.

  Bruni’s expression softened somewhat.

  Freya came down the same way Bruni must have come (and the same way Theo came down, except he had done it a lot less gracefully) and landed smoothly on her feet. Her eyes widened at the sight of the snake.

  “Theo,” she said. “Didn’t we tell you not to wander?”

  “I didn’t wander!” Theo said, voice shaking. “It’s not like I did it on purpose.”

  Nibblet came bounding out of nowhere, scurrying up his leg and onto his arm to sit on Theo’s shoulder. She let out a long series of squeaks that sounded most of all like a mother reprimanding her naughty child—and then she began plucking pieces of spider web from Theo’s face. He grimaced, because yuck. And Emberion had said everything could be dangerous here—would he end up with boils all over his face from the spider web, or something?

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  “No, you’re just as clumsy as they come,” Bruni said with a roll of his eyes.

  A massive shadow descended from above. Emberion came through the canopy, landing on quiet talons beside Theo, Bruni and Freya. There wasn’t enough space for him, so branches and twigs creaked and gave way until he fit. Emberion turned his gaze to Theo. Was that concern Theo saw in his eyes?

  “Are you hurt?” he asked with a care that belied his fearsome appearance.

  Theo felt through his body and yes, his arm hurt quite a bit.

  “Let me see that,” Freya said, coming over. “Is it just the arm?”

  Theo nodded. “I landed on it.”

  “Course you did,” Bruni muttered.

  “I don’t think it’s broken,” Theo said, wincing.

  She felt through his arm, humming. Theo knew all knights had basic medical training—a good idea since they had a tendency to get hurt both in training and outside—so he let her do her thing. Though tough as any male solider, Freya had surprisingly delicate hands, and she picked him over with a gentleness he thought her incapable of. She checked his pulse, that his grip was as strong as it should be, and that his sensitivity to touch was the same as usual, and then he winced as she squeezed through the sore tissue.

  “I think you’re right,” she said when she had finished. “Nothing broken, but pretty badly bruised. I’m sure you’ll be in pain for a few days.”

  “Great,” Theo sighed.

  Bruni rolled his eyes again. “I’ll give you something for the pain once we set up camp.”

  Emberion lowered his body as best he could in the cramped space, offering his back. “Climb on and let us keep going. This commotion will surely have woken the giants, even if they are unwell.”

  With Emberion’s help, Theo managed to clamber onto the dragon’s back and Freya and Bruni did the same, albeit more hesitantly. As they rose above the trees, Theo caught a glimpse of the wilds stretching out beneath them—beautiful but unforgiving, a land of hidden dangers and unexpected guardians. He leaned against Emberion’s warm scales, grateful for his friends’ rescue and more aware than ever of the perils that lay ahead.

  They hadn’t even met the stone giants yet.

  The ascent was swift, the forest blurring into a green smear beneath them as Emberion carried Theo, Freya and Bruni back up to where Theo had so abruptly fallen. The warm summer air rushed against Theo’s face, soothing the throbbing pain in his arm. He clung to Emberion, the dragon’s scales providing a surprisingly comfortable grip.

  They landed again near where Theo had fallen, Bruni and Freya sliding off without being asked to do so. They picked up the packing they had left behind as they hurried to save Theo.

  “And you think the giants know we’re here?” Theo asked from the Emberion’s back.

  “Everyone knows we’re here after that nosedive,” Bruni said with a snort. “Only you could find trouble within five minutes of entering the forest.”

  “Hey, I’ve been in the forest for two days now, not five minutes,” Theo said. Though there was the incident with the burning ivy that blistered his hand…

  “This forest. Five minutes,” Bruni said. “And now we’ll have to listen to you whine.”

  Freya pursed her lips. “How about you give him something for the pain, and that won’t be a problem?”

  Bruni glared, then sighed. “I have some ground willow bark in my bag.”

  “Willow bark?” Theo asked. “I’m supposed to eat bark?”

  “It has excellent pain relief properties,” Bruni snapped. “But if you’d rather go without—”

  “No, no, I’ll try it.”

  Bruni reached into his bag and picked up a small leather pouch. He held it out to Theo. “Take a pinch of the powder and keep it on your tongue as long as you can.”

  If it hadn’t been for how Bruni had already helped him with the blisters on his hand, he might have thought the dwarf was playing him, but as it was, he actually believed Bruni knew what he was doing. So he did exactly as said, and let a pinch of the powder (exactly how much was a pinch, was the question, though, because he might be over or underdosing it) melt away on his tongue.

  It was no instant relief, but the ache in his arm dulled to more manageable levels.

  “Thank you,” he said. “That’s—”

  He was about to say more when a deep, resonant sound echoed through the trees—a sound that vibrated in their very bones. They all turned toward the source, and what Theo saw took his breath away.