And then I realized that’sexactlywhat was happening. A calamut didn’t hit me; it was one ofthosethings. Placing my hands beneath me, I tried to push myself up, but a cloven hoof slammed into the small of my back and buried me deeper into the earth.
I choked on the dirt clogging my mouth and nostrils as the tremendous weight of the beast leaned more firmly onto me. I scrambled to find the sword I lost when I fell. Dirt and rocks dug into my fingers and palms, but I couldn’t find my sword.
My movements became more frantic, and my lungs burned for air as the nuckal peeled away a strip of skin from my neck. I refused to acknowledge the pain as warm blood seeped down my throat.
When my fingertips landed on something cool and solid, I wrapped my hand around the hilt, dragged my sword toward me, and blindly jabbed it over my head. I grinned when it sank into muscle and the nuckal screeched. As it reeled back, it tore my sword from it, but I managed to hold on to the weapon.
Scrambling to my feet, I staggered when a wave of dizziness left me reeling. The ground heaved beneath my feet and, unable to see through my double vision, I swung in a wild arc to protect myself from whatever else was coming.
Arms encircled my waist and plucked me from the ground. Flames crackled before my eyes as I swung my sword. A hand clasped my wrist and pulled the sword away as I landed on something. Another arm cinched around both of mine, pinning them to my chest.
“Don’t fight me,” a voice hissed in my ear.
Despite the ringing in my ears and the spinning in my head, I recognize that voice. I probably would have been better off if the nuckal ate me.
* * *
Wrath
Zorn flewacross the ground with such speed, it felt as if his hooves didn’t touch the earth. Branches whipped out of the darkness at us, but I’d discovered the calamuts weren’t a big fan of fire. Because of that, flames engulfed me and Zorn.
I’d learned in the minotaur’s cave that fire didn’t affect Bale; she didn’t seem to possess any of her own, but it didn’t burn her. I kept my flames high as the wind whipped them around us, and the calamut’s frustration grew.
Bale struggled in my grasp for a few seconds before going limp. Her head fell back against my shoulder and lulled to the side. Her acquiescence troubled me more than all the blood covering her.
I’d seen what the nuckals did to her. I’d been fighting my way through the nuckals and calamuts to get to her, but it felt as if for every three feet of progress I made, I lost six feet.
Then I saw that thing hit her, and the rage I’d been trying to contain erupted, and fire engulfed me. Zorn, so in tune with my emotions, also became encased in flames until they trailed off his tail.
That was when I discovered the calamuts weren’t quite so eager to get as close to us, which helped me get to Bale. I had to be careful not to let my ability ooze out to affect others; if I did, I would only fuel the calamuts and nuckals.
A branch lashed out and circled my wrist. I bared my teeth at it as my flames licked higher. The limb turned to ashes as the trees swayed back and forth overhead. Limbs slithered across the sky like snakes in a pit as they tried to figure out some way to get us or stop us.
Dozens of branches impaled the ground all around us as the trees tried to cage us in or slaughter us. Somehow, Zorn’s powerful gait and fleet movements kept us from being impaled, but up ahead, the calamuts had created a wall.
Zorn turned away from the wall and fled further into the forest. I had no idea where we were in the woods anymore; I only knew I had to get us out of here. I lost sight of the building and nuckals as Zorn galloped faster and faster.
The woods became so dark that the only source of illumination was the fire enveloping us. The fire crackled around us as the agitated movements of the calamuts created a wind that kicked up leaves. I was beginning to think we would never be free of the forest when I saw the faintest hint of light ahead.
Freedom.
I nudged Zorn faster as I became consumed by the certainty the calamuts wouldn’t let us leave this place. And then Zorn took a sharp right, leapt a log sandwiched between two of the trees, and landed on the other side.
He pounded across the earth before taking a left that was followed by an abrupt right. Suddenly we were racing into an open, rocky field covered in a thin layer of snow. He ran away from the trees still smashing into the ground behind us.
Zorn galloped across the field that gave way to mountains and sporadic pine trees. “Take us home,” I said.
The horse veered to the right.
Chapter Fifteen
Wrath
I setBale down carefully in my chamber. Usually, I slept on the floor and didn’t bother with any kind of luxuries, but I couldn’t stand to leave her lying on the rock. My boots echoed through the room as I strode to the corner where I kept my clothes and a thick, black cloak I sometimes wore to protect against the cold.
I pulled out the cloak and returned to Bale. I laid it on the floor beside her and lifted her back into my arms. I marveled at how light she felt though she wasn’t a petite woman. And then I realized it wasn’t that she felt light; she was frail in this vulnerable state.
She also felt incredibly right in my arms. No matter how much she denied it, she belonged with me. Iwouldmake sure she realized it.
