Fire In The Blood (Shards Of A Broken Sword Book 2) by W.R. Gingell Page A

sauntering toward them through the foliage.
    Kako shrugged and said to Rafiq: “Boost me up, will you?”
    Rafiq linked his fingers to make a stirrup, and when Kako put her bare foot in it he tossed her up on the wall.
    “You’ll have to come up here too,” she said, treading lightly along the bricks. “Straddle the wall: one leg here, another there.”
    Rafiq did as he was told while Akish made remarks about the length of the sash-rope from below, and Kako knelt briefly before him.
    “I don’t know how long I’ll be,” she said: “And I’ll probably disappear as soon as I hit the grass. Don’t worry about that. Don’t untie the sash for any reason, even if you think I’m not coming back. Don’t believe everything you see. And be ready to haul me up again very quickly if I come on the run.”
    Rafiq, frowning, said: “Is it really that dangerous?” but Kako had already slithered down the other side of the wall, grasping his arm to let herself down lightly. Then she was gone.
                  Rafiq wasn’t sure when he became aware of a small thought in the back of his mind that said Kako could break the spell that bound him to Akish. He was straddling the wall with one leg precariously in Faery and the other scarcely less precariously in the Enchanted Keep’s domain, looking vainly to see Kako in the smooth greenery of Faery, and he could feel the bouncing tension in the line of sashes that told him she was still there. The thought came in so softly and quietly that he wasn’t even sure of the veracity of it. He was sure, however, that she’d taken an interest in the spell; and he was even more sure that she knew far more about magic in general, and his spell in particular, than she pretended. Could she be persuaded to break it?
    He was still pondering the point when there was a strangled shout from Akish.
    “Look to the sky!” the prince yelled.
    There was a bruising to it, a storm riding in; and in the centre of that storm was something big and bad and...toothy.
    It was a basilisk. Rafiq gave it one horrified look and hauled desperately on the line of sashes, hand over hand.
    “Cast the wench adrift!” shouted Akish. Rafiq heard the rattle of sword clearing scabbard as the prince took his stance in the garden below, and grimly braced himself to endure the pain of ignoring a Command. If he could hold out long enough, Kako would be back in the garden.
    “Untie her and join me in the garden, you son of a lizard!” roared Akish. “Take your dragon form and prepare to fight!”
    Rafiq reeled in the sashes, panting. He was certain that there was more sash than there should be, and still Kako was invisible– still the basilisk galloped furiously toward them. Then he felt a sudden tension in the line, a definite weight on the end, and heaved for dear life.
    The basilisk snarled its fury into his face, but Kako was in his arms with a wrenching thump, and they were falling backwards into the garden while the storm passed over their heads.
     
    ***
     
                  In a certain library somewhere in Shinpo, dissatisfaction was brewing.
    “Where is she?” said Dai impatiently. “She said she’d come tonight!”
    Zen shrugged. “Maybe they passed through another Circle. Stop pulling my hair, Dai!”
    “Well, I’ve got to do something , and you’re here.”
    “Stop pulling Zen’s hair,” said Suki wearily. “What’s so dreadfully important, Dai?”
    Dai shrugged, abandoning Zen’s hair for more interesting pursuits. “Kako asked us to do something for her. We did it and found out something she’ll want to know.”
    “Something to do with Faery, I suppose?”
    “Yes. Do you want to know about it?”
    Suki said: “Not really, no. Is it dangerous?”
    “Oh, very! ” purred Dai. “Well. It is for the Fae, anyway.”
     
    The Fourth Circle is ended.

The Fifth Circle
     
     
                  Rafiq fell with Kako caught up in his arms. Instead of hitting