They found the path at the end of the docks, just where Sweet Pea had said it would be. It was a thin and narrow strip of dirt, barely more than a few feet wide, perfect for sneaking along up the coast, especially with the dunes and their long grasses hanging over one side, shielding them from view. The only thing she’d forgotten to mention was the tide.

  As the surf came in, the waves broke just inches below their feet, spraying them with icy water. Soon enough, both of them were soaked and shivering, even as they ran.

  “Ugh! Do you see the pipe yet?” Dandy shouted.

  “Keep down!” Maine shushed him. “I don’t even see the wall yet!” Ahead of her, she could only see the path curling along to the right, following the bend in the dunes. Surely they were close though, the sound of fighting was getting louder and there was a red glow in the sky, just ahead of them.

  Suddenly the sand under her feet gave way and Maine started to slip. Her feet slid into the water as she clawed at the grass, trying to fight for purchase.

  “I’ve got you!” Dandy yelled, grabbing hold of her hand. Maine stopped sliding her feet dangling over the edge of the path.

  “Thanks,” she sighed. “I was in no mood to go swimming.”

  Dandy nodded and started to pull her up, when suddenly he stiffened. “Quiet!” he hissed, ducking his head down.

  A light had appeared, shining over the edge of the dunes. “You hear something?!” a man’s voice called out.

  Maine flattened herself against the edge of the cliff, trying to hide in the weeds. The waves crashed again, soaking her up to her thighs. As water splashed against the lantern at her belt, she felt it jump all on it’s own.

  MMMmmrrowww!!?

  “Ifri!” she hissed. “Stay quiet!”

  They heard heavy footfalls overhead and the light grew brighter. Someone was climbing the hill, staring out over the dunes. “Who’s out there?” the man called. The waves crashed again below them and the lantern rattled one more time.

  Mmmrrrroowww?!

  Winced, trying to keep her legs up and out of the water. Dandy was holding his breath. The light was so close now, if he just climbed a few feet more, he’d be able to look down on them, there’d be no way they could stay hidden.

  The waves crashed again, but this time only soaked her ankles. The lantern gave another soft rattle and was still. After a moment, they heard the man curse and start to climb back down the hill. Slowly, the light faded away.

  Dandy let out his breath. “That was close. Who was that?”

  “I don’t know,” she told him. “You want to go see?”

  He pulled her up with a grunt and set her back down onto the path. “Not really, but let’s go anyway.”

  They started to climb the hill, keeping low as they peeped over the top. Maine saw immediately that they’d already gone a lot further than she’d thought. Across from the dunes there was a sandy dirt road running east to west, leading out of Old Coney. It was much like the one that had gone to Henna’s shop, all the way on the other side of the island, sparsely bordered by shacks and abandoned shops. This one, however, instead of leading to edge of the grassy dunes of Sheepshead, ran to the wall off neighborhood of–

  “Gravesend!” Dandy hissed. He sucked in his breath. “God! Look! It’s like the whole place’s ablaze!”

  Behind the brick walls that encircled the small neighborhood, fires were leaping from rooftop to rooftop, the tightly packed homes Gravesend providing a natural path to spread. They could hear the shouts and screams from the townspeople, but over that was the rattle of gunfire.

  Two full wagons had been driven into the main gate leading through the walls, blocking the entrance. As if that wasn’t enough of a barrier, men with guns were crouched around them, firing into Gravesend. Maine squinted, trying to see what they were shooting at, but just then there was a roar from inside the walls.

  From out of the flames and smoke in the streets, a huge Troll came charging, head lowered and bellowing. Trimble’s men started to shout, focusing their fire, but he was already too close. He smashed into the first cart, dislodging it in a shower of wood and sending it rolling backwards as the men scattered. The Troll continued to yell, trying to pull himself free, but the force of his impact had been so great that he was partially embedded into the wreck. Trimble’s men ran forwards, trying to bring him down, but there then there was an answering shout. More Elders were running from out of the smoke, men, women, children. Some fled around the wreckage, but others were fighting, tackling the men and swarming them under. In moments, it was a general riot, Human against Elder with no quarter given.

  Maine grabbed Dandy’s arm and tugged him back down the hill. “Come’on, we’ll never get in that way!” She hopped down onto the path and took off running. Ahead of them, the path led around Gravesend, just as Sweet Pea had said. It also grew even narrower, with the surf frequently crashing over the path, leaving them to slip and slide their way along. It wasn’t easy going. Ifri’s lantern began to shake again with each wetting, and behind her, Maine could hear Dandy huffing along.

  “Maine! They’ve all got guns!” he called up to her. “How are we going to get the Firstborn out, even if we find them?”

  “I don’t know! We’ll figure something out!” Dandy groaned loudly, but she hardly noticed. She pointed up ahead. “Look, there’s the pipe!”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Sticking out about halfway up the wall was a twelve inch diameter lead pipe. It hung several feet over the shoreline, with what looked like something black and nasty dripping slowly from the end. The smell wasn’t any better as she got closer. Maine clamped her fingers over her nose but even that didn’t seem to help, even the air foul and greasy. “Ugh! Gross! Why didn’t she warn us?” Dandy was swaying on his feet, his eyes almost crossed.

  Maine squinted, looking up. The wall above the pipe was actually broken, with a large crack running up the middle. A few boards had been placed across it, but it looked easy enough to slip through. “Can you give me a boost?”

  Dandy grunted, breathing loudly through his mouth, and let her climb up over him onto the pipe. She moaned as her fingers sunk into the slimy moss on top, or at least, that’s what she hoped it was. Throwing her leg over, she climbed up, then reached down to grab Dandy’s hand.

  “Ugh! That’s rank!” he complained.

  “Just shut up and get up here!” She started to haul him up. Suddenly, something was scrambling up the wall beside her and Maine yelled, nearly losing her grip. Dandy yelped and clung to her, his feet kicking in the air.

  It was a rat. The little gray thing clawed its way up the wall and then sprang up and onto the pipe. For a moment, it paused, and the cold look it gave Maine seemed oddly familiar to her. Then with a flick of its tail, it scampered towards the crack and slipped through. Maine stared after it.

  “Well sure, it’s easy if you’ve got four legs,” she muttered.

  “Maine!” Dandy yelped again.

  “Hold your horses. I got you!” She pulled him up onto the pipe with a grunt. Dandy clung to it weakly, and Maine slapped him on the back with a broad smile. “See, not so bad, was it?”

  He glared at her. Both of them were soaked from the surf, their clothes covered with muck and slime. “Have I told you this is a bad idea yet?” he asked. She shook her head, still smiling wide. “Well it is. A really bad one.”

  “Just think of all the street cred you’ll get,” she told him. She hopped up and started to make her way down the pipe, holding both hands out to balance herself. “Sneaking into Gravesend, saving the Firstborn… No one’s ever going to badmouth the 33rd Street Boys again!” She reached the wall, and started to tug at the boards, prying them free.

  “I’d rather be safe and anonymous,” he grumbled, climbing up.

  Together, they dropped down to a small alleyway on the other side of the wall. Maine crouched low, eyes scanning around intently. The glow from the fires were still in the distance, along with yells and the sound of gunfire. “How well do you know this Gravesend?” she asked.

  Dandy hesitated. “Umm… I don’t.”

  She stared at him. “What? I thought you’d been here!”

  “What made you think that?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s why I brought you!”

  “Well, sorry to disappoint!” he snapped. “I thought you needed my help!”

  “That’s what you were–” Ifri’s lantern gave another lurch, growing hot on her hip, and she fumbled for it. “Wait, Ifri!”

  With a sudden click, the kitten sprang out of the lantern, tumbling across the alley floor. He rolled into a stack of trash cans and crates, scattering them noisily. Both Maine and Dandy flinched as the cans clattered around the alley, but no one seemed to hear, or care, over the rest of the noise that night.

  Maine sighed and looked at the little kitten, blinking curiously as it lay in the spilled rubbish of the cans. “Happy now?” Ifri gave a satisfied Mrrrrpp! and scampered to the end of the alley, the trash burning off his coat as he nosed around. “Don’t stray too far,” she warned him, but in the way of all cats he ignored her, running further ahead. Grumbling, she tightened her bag strap and took a deep breath. The rattle of gunfire seemed awfully close now, and much louder than it had been on the other side of the wall. She felt her lips trembling, and she bit down hard until they stopped. “Come’on!” she said, yelling extra loud so that Dandy would think she was talking to him. “We’ve got to hurry.”

  Unfortunately, he was already at the edge of the alley, peering out fearfully. “What are you talking about?”

  “Argh! Just forget it!” She ran up to join him at the corner, and together, they peered out.

  Gravesend was a great deal more cramped than Maine had been expecting. The ‘street’ that they stared out into was barely the size of one of the servant’s hallways back home. It twisted and turned, taking strange angles, as the doors and windows of nearby houses stuck out into the road. All the buildings seemed to press and lean against each other, and Maine had the strangest thought that if you removed one house, the whole neighborhood might just tumble down altogether.

  She frowned and shook her head, trying to clear it. They could at least see the glow from the fires up ahead of them, but with all the bends in the road, it would make it hard to see what was in front of them. If they weren’t careful, they could run right into Trimble’s men, or worse, if even half of Kelphin’s stories about Gravesend were true.

  She signaled for Dandy to follow her, and started to creep along the streets, heading towards the fire. She kept her eyes moving, checking each window and door as they passed, but everything seemed to be dark; either they had already fled, or they were hiding. Ifri ran ahead of her, tail held high, looking back occasionally to check her progress.

  Suddenly Maine heard the sound of running footsteps and stopped, holding up her hand. There was a cross street in front of them, just as narrow and twisted as the road they were on. She ducked down low as a figure dashed across the street, then vanished from view, their footsteps echoing in the darkness. Dandy grabbed her arm. “Who were they?”

  She shrugged. She listened carefully in the darkness, but she couldn’t hear anyone else coming, so she started to get up, then sat back down again. Dandy looked at her nervously. “What’s the matter?”

  They had a problem. The road they were on had shifted somewhat, and now the fires were burning somewhere to their left, in between the cross-street and the way they were on. Either street could be the right one, or the wrong one too, she realized. “Hold on. I’m trying to think here…”

  Ifri sat on his haunches, idly licking his paws, while Dandy muttered something under his breath impatiently. “Just pick one and let’s go!”

  “Just a sec!” She tried to think, racking her brain. If they picked wrong now, they could waste hours here, lost in a maze of backstreets. They could always climb up and try to find a vantage point, but as she looked around, all she saw was overhanging windows and roofs high above them, and certainly nothing they could use as a ladder. She was about to throw in the towel and just pick randomly, when she saw a rat scurry out into the middle of the path to their left. It was the same rat from before, she didn’t know how she knew, but she was certain. It gave her another cold glare, then turned and scurried down the cross street. After a moment, it turned again, as if waiting for them.

  Well that settled it. “Follow the rat!” she said

  “What?”

  “Just come’on!”

  The rat led them down the twisting maze of alleyways unerringly, pausing only occasionally to sniff the air before scampering on. All the while, the glow in the sky grew brighter and brighter, till they turned one last corner and saw the flames leapining from the rooftops directly in front of them. Ifri sat on his haunches, giving a soft purr as he watched the blaze.

  Maine would have rushed forwards, but Dandy pulled her back suddenly. He pointed. “Look!”

  Maybe a hundred yards down the street from them was a walled off yard with a large barn inside of it; perhaps an old depot for stage-coaches or freight. Whatever it used to have been, the thick, wooden gate had been forced in, split down the middle. Masked men, just like they’d seen at the bar were crouched behind the fence, firing from cover into the yard. Past them, Maine could see flames licking at the peak of the warehouse within, and answering fire from the windows and doors. The rat had led them rightly; they’d found the Firstborn.