Chapter Two MelkarieMai was usually good with plans, but for the first time in her life she couldn’t think of one good idea to help them escape. Things had not improved by the time the sun reached the middle of the sky. The four slavers trudged in front of them over the baking sand. Another four trailed behind them. The sun beat down, turning the air so hot that it felt like fire against their skin.
Barka was so hot in Mai’s pocket that she pulled him out and placed him on her shoulder. The little lizard flicked his tail and lifted his nose in the air, smelling something the others could not. He raced across the width of Mai’s back onto her other shoulder, stretching his neck to see around the slavers behind them. He stayed that way, staring at something no one else could see.
Long had n
