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Without looking back, Pen steps through the fire and emerges unscathed on the other side, a testament to her heart of a warrior. Someone with the resolve to do what I cannot.
As I watch her, an ache opens in my chest, and I sag in Darius’s arms, the fight leaving me.
I would die for Star to keep her safe, but Pen would die with her to save the world.
Pen’s hair turns to golden flames as she approaches the horse Star now sits atop at the front of the line and expertly mounts behind her.
Hands grasping the horse’s mane, she kicks the dark beast into motion, leading the Wild Hunt into the woods.
the wild hunt
- Pen -
Freezing wind howls around me, whipping the fine strands of my hair into a frenzy as the unnaturally cold horse beneath me charges forward. Its hooves eat up the pine-covered forest floor, then ring out against pavement as we reach the road that borders Clearhelm, each strike echoing like thunder.
I tighten my grip on the silky mane in my hands, trying to steady myself and Star.
“Everything will be okay,” I whisper to the child cradled in my arms, but Star doesn’t respond, her eyes open and staring blankly ahead.
Why her, of all kids? Is it because she’s not fully of this world? Does her connection to the spiritfarers make her a beacon for Others to cross through the veil?
Whatever the case, she means so much to Flint. It makes me hurt to know the pain this will cause him if she’s used as a puppet to kill people.
The strike of more hooves breaks onto the road, the other horsemen falling into line behind me, raising the fine hairs on the back of my neck. The pound of their hoofbeats land in a synchronized drum of death, beating out Clearhelm’s doom if they make it into town.
My ear bud crackles to life, and Flint’s shouts fill my ears, but he’s not talking to me.
“Why did you let Pen go with the Wild Hunt and not me?” Anger and fear strain his voice.
“You’re not a warrior,” Marc says with brutal honesty. “It wasn’t your place to go.”
“Like hell it wasn’t!” Flint yells back. “I’ve fought by your sides hundreds of times! How can you say that?”
As the forest blurs past us on either side of the road, I shove back the terror that gripped me when Flint threw himself toward the flames.
He would have sacrificed his life for one of his kids without hesitation, and I love him for that, but I couldn’t risk losing him. We have no idea what celestial fire will do to any of us, but the black dog’s ice had nearly snuffed me out for good.
“Being willing to fight and being a warrior are not the same, Flint,” Darius interjects, his voice cold and detached. “Your preference to avoid battle would have burned you to ash.”
“Dammit, Darius?—”
“Shut up, all of you!” Sharpe cuts through the shouts. “We don’t have time to argue amongst ourselves. Pen, can you still hear us?”
“Yes.” A shiver goes through me. “I’m still with you guys.”
“Good.” The single word is filled with a world of relief. “We’re getting in our cars now to follow you. What’s your location?”
“Still on the outskirts, but we’re moving fast.” I grip the horse’s mane tighter. “The turn into town is coming up.”
“Try to keep going straight.” The slam of a car door punctuates Sharpe’s words, followed by the roar of the engine. “The longer you steer the hunt away from Clearhelm, the more time we have to come up with a plan.”
“I’ll do my best.” The chill of the horse’s body sinks into me, numbing my legs, and I draw on the fire I took from Darius.
If I fall off now, we’re lost.
I risk releasing my hold with one hand to shake Star but receive no reaction. The kid is not mentally here with me. “Do we have any ideas of how to stop this?”
“We could drive by with salt and lead bombs,” Marc suggests. “It worked on the black dogs.”
