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The sun climbed in the sky, melting frost along the road. Corayne felt only the warmth of the hound’s flames.
It snapped at her horse’s hooves, jaws black and burning.
This time, Corayne did not call on the gods.
She saw the Companions in her mind, all dead behind her.
Dead so I might live.
It will not be in vain.
In a single motion, she reined the horse and drew the Spindleblade, the steel flashing in the morning sun. It flamed brighter than the hound itself, snarling as it leapt for her horse. Already moving through the air, its body like an arrow from the string.
With all her strength, Corayne swung the blade, a lumberjack with an ax.
The Spindleblade cut through flame and flesh. There was no blood as the hound’s head fell from its shoulders. Its corpse fell to embers and ashes, leaving nothing but a burned path in its wake.
The world went achingly silent, but for Corayne’s heartbeat and a trailing wind. The ashes blew slowly, until even the embers winked out.
Sweat dripped down Corayne’s face, and she heaved a single, shuddering breath.
Her heart pounded, most of her in shock. The rest surged with triumph. But there was little time to celebrate, or even breathe a sigh of relief. The silence loomed up again, as much a reminder as anything else.
You are alone, Corayne an-Amarat, she thought, her heart welling up with sorrow.More alone than you ever thought you could be.
She wheeled the horse again, back onto the path toward the distant forest. Ashes fell from the Spindleblade. She wiped it clean with her sleeve, thinking of Andry and how he tended their blades with sure hands. The memory made her breath catch, only for a moment. With a snap, she slid the sword back into its leather sheath.
Corayne did her best not to think about the last thing Taristan’s sword killed.
Her best was not enough.
The sun wheeled across the sky and hours passed. The Castlewood did not seem to move any closer, but neither did the remaining Infyrna hounds. Perhaps the loss of their brother kept them at a distance.
Can monsters feel fear?Corayne wondered as she rode on.
Taristan is a monster. And I saw fear in him, she thought, remembering his face in their final moments together. When she took his Spindleblade for her own, and a dragon crashed down onto the city. He was afraid then, his bloodshot eyes wide with terror, as much as he tried to hide it. NeitherTaristan nor Ronin controlled the great beast. It roamed freely, destroying whatever it wanted to destroy.
Where the dragon might be now, Corayne had no idea. And she did not want to spend precious energy thinking about it. There was nothing to be done about a dragon loose upon the Ward, obedient to nothing and no one.
Just when Corayne thought Valtik’s mare might ride forever, her inexorable pace began to slow. Only a little, barely enough to notice. But sweat foamed on her flanks and her breathing grew hard. Whatever magic Valtik imbued the horse with came to an end.
“Well done,” Corayne muttered, patting the mare’s gray neck. “I don’t have much else to give you but my thanks.”
The horse whickered in response and changed direction.
Corayne didn’t have the heart to rein her back, and let the horse angle off the old road and down a wooded bank. There was a stream at the bottom, half choked with ice. But the water ran clear, and Corayne was thirsty too.
When the mare bent to drink, Corayne slid from the saddle, landing on bowed and aching legs. She winced, bone-tired and saddle-sore. All she wanted to do was lie down and sleep, no matter the danger. Instead, Corayne tried to think as Sorasa would.
First, she loosed the Spindleblade from the horse’s saddle, and slung it over her shoulder. She only trusted Valtik’s magic so far, and a spooked horse could mean disaster. Then she assessed her surroundings with a sharp eye, noting the dip of the bank and the tangled tree branches hanging over the stream. Good cover from the sky, should a dragon be lurking. The ground formed a little valley with the stream down the center, barely deeper than she was tall, but it offered some cover too. Not enough tosleep, but enough for a moment’s peace. Enough for Corayne to exhale, if only a little.
“Iona.”
Corayne tested the name on her tongue as she mulled over the possibilities. She knew little of Dom’s home, but enough. It was a fortress city, well hidden in the valleys of Calidon. And filled with immortal Elders. If even half of them were fearsome as Dom was, it would be a safe place indeed.
If they even open the gates to me, she thought ruefully.Iona refused to help us once. They might do so again.
Even so, it was her best option.
