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Certainly, Jav wasn’t interested in that. He’d already said he planned to hide her away for her safety. Alone. Without him. Without anyone.
At least alive.
None of this was fair. He’d already ruined his life, so she could live. If Jav and Sky died here, even if she managed to get away and survive and hide, then Alekur would still have won.
That idea renewed her energy to keep pressing on the wound. She was exhausted, bone deep in a kind of way that she’d never known before.
Or was it something more?
She scanned the sea of red that waved around them. Her vision was hazy, blurred. She could no longer see the top of the hill to check if their pursuers were catching up to them. She tried to listen, but all she could hear was her blood rushing in her ears, a loud roar like a storm.
Were the plants… Were the plants doing something? Emanating energy? All creatures did, and typical plants seemed to as well, but not like this. Instead of vibrant, the air felt… blurred. Soft around the edges.
Sleepy. Drunken.
No. She couldn’t let Alekur win. Or Sky die.
Hands still pressed to the wound, she was dragged unwillingly into sleep, thoughts swirling with healing and safety and all that she wished for but could never have.
Jav awoke in agony.
His side had hurt him before, but this. This was much worse. Almost as bad as the initial impact of the sword hitting the shield. No, worse. Like his insides were ripping apart.
He had collapsed against Sky. He eased away from the horse, hoping not to disturb him. His loyal steed didn’t move.
Already dead?
There was really no time to analyze. The aching grew, and he fell to his back on the carpet of needles, desperately trying to contain a scream. His body arched, and he gritted his teeth against the intense pain, determined to keep quiet. His eyes caught on Iseris. She too had fallen against the poor horse.
By the gods, was there some cruel magic on the horse? Was this the price of corruption? The death and the arrow—that should have been his first sign.
The pain intensified until it was hard to even wonder at these things. Hard to think. He just gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes closed and tried not to go insane.
And then, just as abruptly, the pain stopped.
Panting, he opened his eyes. He lay staring up at the sky for a long time. His forehead was slick with sweat. He couldn’t hear anything beyond his own breath and the call of a stray bird awakening. Dawn was beginning to break. It’d be soon now.
They’d need to keep going. On just Pearl. One horse. Doomed, that’s what they were. Doomed.
Suddenly a familiar neigh split the air, and he sat up with a jolt.
The pain. It was gone.
Iseris fell back, limp as a rag doll and clearly unconscious. But Sky—Sky!
Jav stared as the horse tried to rise. “You’re okay!”
Sky was staggering to his feet. The shoulder was still wet with blood, but the muscles rippled as he rose. The hole from the arrow was gone. And there was just something about him—his fresh, typical energy when he was excited to get out of the stables, out into the sun.
Had he exaggerated the severity of the wound in his sleep-deprived state? Had it healed over night? No. Impossible.
He got to his feet himself, gaping in disbelief. Maybe the horse had just been tired. No, that didn’t make any sense. The blood was still there.
Jav had rarely been this exhausted. Maybe he was hallucinating. Out of his wits. He’d seen something more than was really there. By the gods.
“By the gods,” he murmured, caressing Sky’s neck. “You’re alive.”
His horse huffed, nosing toward Iseris. Pearl came trotting up, too, looking remarkably refreshed, and greeted Sky. The two horses trotted away a little, looking like they’d been well-fed and in a warm stable all night. Impossible.
