Secret of the Giants' Staircase by Amy Lynn Green Page B

the branches. He just dropped from the tree, landing hard, but on his feet. Jesse hoped whoever was in the city hadn’t heard the sound.
    They both ran for the same place: the pile of crumbled pillars across the courtyard near the building. Owen scrambled over the top of one while Jesse went around. He crouched down and tried to make himself as small as possible.
    He could hear voices approaching now as well as footsteps. Two people, both men.
    â€œâ€¦wouldn’t hope to find them here, in these ruins,” one was saying. Jesse didn’t recognize the voice, and he didn’t dare bring his face up over the pillar. “Even if they chanced to be here, there is too much ground to cover. I say we return to the camp with Lillen.”
    â€œI don’t like this city,” another voice said.
    This one Jesse recognized, and the sound made him sink even farther down behind the crumbled stone. Captain Demetri. Somehow, he had traveled across the country and found them again.
    And this time, Captain Demetri isn’t alone .
    â€œMost prefer to avoid the ruins,” the other man said. “It has become more legend than reality. Haunted by Lidians, some say, the home of the Westlund giants, according to others, and a wandering place for the spirits of vanished Amarian travelers, others insist.”
    Oddly, the second man’s voice had a kind of lilting quality to it, like an actor in a theatre troupe. Somehow, it made Jesse want to lean in and listen.
    â€œDo you fear the city, Captain?” he asked.
    Captain Demetri made a derisive sound. “I do not hold to those weak superstitions. I don’t like this city because there are too many places to hide.”
    He paused, and Jesse’s heart beat faster. He could almost feel Captain Demetri’s eyes on the pillars.
    â€œAt least we know why we haven’t received reports from the Rider assigned to the swamp,” the other man said. “The state of the camp was peculiar, to say the least. Wouldn’t you agree, Captain?”
    â€œNo,” Captain Demetri said firmly. “He was ambushed, probably by the very squad he sought to kill.”
    â€œAnd what of the boy—Barnaby, wasn’t it? The squad captain and the girl said he entered the ruins and never came out.”
    â€œNero and Talia?” Owen mouthed, a question written in his eyes.
    Jesse nodded. It had to be.
    â€œThere must be a logical explanation,” Captain Demetri said. “I refuse to believe otherwise.”
    Jesse almost admired his confidence. He was nearly beginning to waver in that belief. The strange history of the city, the eeriness of the ruins at night, the way everyone who entered mysteriously disappeared…it didn’t seem natural.
    â€œPerhaps,” the second man said. “Should I give Lillen the order to kill the two we found?”
    Owen whimpered, but Jesse kept his eyes fixed straight ahead and his hand firmly on Owen’s shoulder to keep him from doing anything foolish.
    â€œNo,” Captain Demetri said. “Keep them alive. The Four are looking for the other squad. If we hold our two captives prisoner, they will come to us.”
    â€œYou really believe that?” the second man asked, a note of skepticism in his voice. “They would risk their lives to save two strangers? It doesn’t seem likely.”
    â€œYou haven’t met these four, Ward,” Captain Demetri said bitterly. “Nothing they do is ‘likely’.”
    Jesse felt a surge of pride. He was one of the four that Captain Demetri spoke of, even though he did not belong to the Youth Guard. And I am a key reason we’re still alive , he thought, remembering the times he saved his squad members’ lives.
    â€œIf they’re alive, they will come,” Captain Demetri said. His voice began to fade as he walked away from them. “If they’re not alive…well, then our work is done.”
    â€œNo,